This is my egg mayo, show me yours

Let’s talk about egg, baby

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Hello my friends. Today I wanted to kick off a chat about one of my most-loved ingredients and one of my favourite ways to eat it, because I’ve been falling back on it, craving it and generally hugely appreciating it lately: so I thought it was time I showed it some love right here. As you might have gathered from the title on this newsletter, I’m talking about the humble egg... and specifically getting into a beloved lunch legend: the egg mayo sandwich.

I posted this photo of my egg mayo mix on Instagram a few days ago and my DMs went wild, so I wanted to share it with you here, along with the details of my current favourite mix, which is being enjoyed piled thickly between sticky slices of freshly-baked sourdough (bought from our fabulous local deli Arno and Co) and also, I want to know about YOUR egg mayo preferences, as I happen to think it’s both deeply personal, and super reliant on what we happen to have in our fridges/cupboards and or where we live in the world.

Eggs are a cornerstone of our weekly mealtimes, and in all honesty, I just don’t know where we’d be without them. I know some people who can’t stand them, other than when they’re hidden inside a cake batter or emulsion - they find the very concept of eggs gives them the ick (is this you??) - and theoretically, I can understand why, but I honestly can’t imagine a world where I don’t always have a little bowl of eggs sitting on the countertop, ready to oblige.

And oblige they do, time and time again, perhaps more than any other staple in my kitchen: whether cracked into a pan of sizzling butter and oil and fried until lacy-edged and crisp, draped over toast and topped with chilli oil or harissa yoghurt for a quick lunch; or poached, plump and primed atop a toasted, buttery spinach-strewn English muffin, ready for a knife to split that white blubber and expose the glistening, molten gold within for a breakfast of champions.

Lately, when energy has been low, I’ve taken to soft boiling them (six minutes from a rolling boil then flashed into cold water to stop them cooking for the perfect dippy), to eat with buttery, Marmite-licked soldiers for dipping, also adding them in to hot dal and greens soup for a quick and bolstering winter’s lunch.

Soft boiled eggs in spinach and dal soup with cheesy flatbreads - a quick midweek lunch (and me v pregnant in spoon)

In my first cookbook, which shares the name with this newsletter (and if you haven’t read it, I really do think you might enjoy it), I called them ‘a meal in a shell’, and this has certainly become the case when it comes to my daughter’s lunches. She now demands them, as she rushes into the kitchen bang on 12.30, shouting, “is it ready yet? Egg! EGG!”. Very often her lunches are egg-based, whether a soft boiled egg with tomatoes, cucumber and avocado, which she slices herself now, thanks to this toddler knife set I bought her for Christmas, or rustled up into eggy bread.

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My favourite mix

Egg mayo filled sandwiches or baguettes hold a nostalgic, indulgent appeal that I imagine is particularly widespread among British readers. Whether crustless, dainty and nibbled from a silver afternoon tea tray, or doorstop thick and gobbled from a platter at a buffet, the chances are you’ve grown up eating this if you’re reading in the UK. The problem with egg mayo though, is that too often when it’s shop bought or readymade it’s too sloppy, gloopy or watery, making the bread or baguette in question all sodden and slimy.

You can get obviously get around this by making it yourself, and I love to do this, ideally in a larger quantity than we need in one sitting, so there’s some in the fridge to dip into, and I find the assembly of the perfect ratios geekishly satisfying. I’m talking here about grown up egg mayo, rather than the very simple egg, cress and mayo, which I also have a lot of time for, if done properly, but this is egg mayo with texture, acidity and a hint of chilli heat, as well as that creamy, rich mayo cloaking its wobbly proteins.

Here are my thoughts on what’s important in a homemade egg mayo:

Mustard

My egg mayo mix changes with my mood, but as a general rule I like to use Frenchies - the sharp, bright yellow American mustard which brings tang, gentle heat, acidity and a great colour. Dijon is my next favourite, and I’ll use that in a simplified mix with tarragon, chopped capers and chives for a more French, sophisticated take.

Mayo

Ideally this would be homemade, but when that’s not possible (aka weekday lunch atm), I opt for Hellmann’s cut with some natural yoghurt to add richness and creaminess. I also love a good squirt of Japanese Kewpie mayo if I have that in, which adds richness, umami and a little sweetness. Adding a teeny bit of white miso to the mayo also brings a similar profile.

Herbs

A crucial addition for me. I love a mix of fresh herbs and will use either parsley, dill or tarragon very finely chopped (or a mix of all three), and failing having fresh herbs in I’ll go for a big pinch of dried tarragon, which I’ll also add if no fresh tarragon is on hand.

Crunch and base flavour

I love to add some very, very finely chopped celery, for crunch and to boost up the flavours: not so this tastes of celery, you understand, but to amp up the savoury. If I have celery leaves I’ll finely chop one or two of those to go through it too, and if lovage is out in the garden I’ll use a leaf of that; very finely chopped as it’s so strong and fibrous.

Allium

Non-negotiable as far as I’m concerned. I love very finely sliced spring onion, the whites and the greens, but also chives and failing that finely chopped shallot or red onion. If no fresh alliums are available I’ll use a pinch of dried onion and garlic powder. I’ve also played around with adding crispy onions for the same reason, though obviously they lose their crispiness in the wet mix.

Spice/chilli heat

This is also crucial for me in my perfect egg mayo. I’ll add a dash of Tabasco and probably a pinch of cayenne, possibly smoked paprika too. Though I love the idea of adding in some freshly chopped green chilli (thanks to reader Teruni for inspiring me with that idea over on Notes).

Pickles and ferments

The tang, funk and acid of a good pickle or ferment are so welcome here to cut through the richness and bring an extra flavour profile. Sometimes I add finely chopped capers, but I think I actually prefer the sweet, crisp tang of very finely chopped cornichons. I’ve also been known to fold through a little really finely chopped sauerkraut and I want to play with adding pickled green chillies, too. I think that would be so good.

Bread

I really think that soft, fresh, squishy white bread is a lovely vehicle for egg mayo (particularly if you’re adding crisps, see below), but to properly fill me up at lunchtime I prefer some fresh sourdough, sliced medium thickly. It has to be so fresh that it’s still soft, spongy and squishy inside, otherwise the egg mayo will make an escape when you clamp your jaws around it. Failing that, I love an egg bap, a soft bread roll that’s been split and buttered and filled with the egg mayo, I’d need two. Also a fan of those bake at home baguettes you can buy in the supermarket, which take about 12 mins to bake until crispy, and can then be cooled, split and filled.

Crisps

If you’re going with the soft, squishy bread option, you can seriously elevate things by adding a layer of crisps. I prefer plain, Jamie swears by salt and vinegar, and if we’re feeling fancy, it’ll be the Torres truffle flavour, an inspired move taken from Sons and Daughters - a brilliant sandwich shop in London.

My mix

Here’s the mix I made the other day, which I think makes for a perfect creaminess and contrast of flavours and textures. I don’t like my egg mayo too runny. If you like it a bit runnier/creamier, add in a little more mayo. Let me know if you like it, and please tell me about your own egg mayo preferences in the comments below…

four hard boiled eggs, peeled and finely chopped
1 stick of celery and its leaves, string removed and very finely chopped
3 spring onions, washed and very finely chopped
a handful of flat leaf parsley and dill, very finely chopped
A pinch of dried tarragon
A pinch of smoked paprika and cayenne pepper
6 cornichons (I like Opies), very finely chopped
3 tbsps mayonnaise (I used Hellmann’s)
1.5 tbsps thick, plain, Greek style natural yoghurt (I used Tim’s)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

And I couldn’t do a post about the joys of eggs and not mention fellow food writer Ed Smith’s forthcoming book Good Eggs: Over a hundred ways to cook and elevate eggs - which is a book I know I’m going to love, and think you will too. It’s available for pre-order here.

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And that’s it! If you’ve enjoyed this little egg mayo deep dive I would love it if you’d consider sharing this post with anyone else you think might dig it. Perhaps someone you’d like to make egg mayo for you? The more people that read this newsletter, the more time I can dedicate to making it the very best it can be.