If you are squeamish about eating raw eggs homemade mayonnaise may not be for you. I, like most people, have spent years not eating things with raw eggs. Not licking the beaters after making chocolate chip cookies was probably the hardest raw-egg situation to pass up. I used to take the beaters straight from the mixer and dump them in the sink so I wouldn’t be tempted. With the outbreaks of salmonella in pistachios, peanut butter, cilantro and spinach, I began to rethink the whole raw-egg scare. The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know.

Besides, cage free chickens are less likely to carry disease. You can also buy pasteurized eggs, but where’s the fun in that.

Homemade mayonnaise will keep for about a week refrigerated, unless you add whey. Sally Fallon’s recipe in Nourishing Traditions calls for a tablespoon of whey. After adding the whey, you then leave the mayo out on the counter overnight to activate the good bacteria, which will increase the shelf life for several months.

Yes, Mom, I made something with raw eggs, left it out overnight and then ate it.

Making mayo is a bit tedious. To have the emulsion work, you have to add the oil very, very slowly, but it is worth the effort!

Here’s the recipe I adapted mainly from Just Hungry blog
(a great blog and detailed recipe with how-to photos, take a look).

2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon whey
1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil or olive oil

1 tablespoon of whey
-Place two egg yolks, lemon juice, whey, salt and beat well with stand mixer or electric hand mixer.
-Slowly, drop by drop, add the oil.
-After you’ve added about 1/3 of the oil, you may start to add the oil faster.
-Mix until it starts to thicken and looks like mayonnaise.
-Transfer the mayo to a jar with a lid. If you’ve added whey, leave on the counter overnight (7-8 hours) then refrigerate. If you did not add whey, keep refrigerated.

If you want to be fancy, add garlic and call it aioli. Ymmmm.