Ah Spain!

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[Music]
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Welcome to Ask Spain Poco Poco. Hi
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Gayano. How's it going?
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Buendia Tanya. I'm I'm
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bueno bueno.
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[Laughter]
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Well, today we're going to talk about
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mayonnaise, which might surprise some
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people, but we're going to tell you why
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it is not a surprise to be talking about
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mayonnaise and their relation and their
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relationship and the relationship of
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mayonnaise to Spain.
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Right. And as us have living here now
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for you several years, me more than a
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couple now, we are embracing and
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immersing ourselves in Spanish pride.
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And so mayonnaise.
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Exactly.
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We are now going to we are now finding
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mountains on which to die on. Right.
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This is our new This is our life.
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And mayonnaise is a good one cuz I think
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we all love mayonnaise. I do love
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mayonnaise. It's not a big big part of
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our cuisine in our house, but we do have
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it. And we do love to dip French fries
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in it and things when we have them.
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I don't know about you. Is it a big
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Oh, I I been eating mayonnaise with my
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French fries once since I've was a
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little tot. So,
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and and I and and and we are always um
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till, you know, back in back in the
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States, we had our perfect mayonnaise,
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and so we're still trying to find it.
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And I think I have found my perfect
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store-bought mayonnaise. And I'm sure
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you're going to tell me there's other
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ones uh about how to make our own, too,
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because I think I remember you telling
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me a few weeks ago, you made your own
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mayonnaise.
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Yes. Well, I was going to say my my
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when I go shopping for mayonnaise, my
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main thing is that I want it in a
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squeegee bottle. like I want to be able
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to just squeeze it out the bottom. So,
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I'm I'm not that fussy because I do
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think in in this area specifically in
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food in Spain. I mean, the products are
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just better. So, I don't have to read
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the labels as much. It's still a habit
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for me. But I found various good
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mayonnaisees that are okay and but I
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like the squeegee bottle. It makes it
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easier. But if you have one that you
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love, I am willing to try because I have
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made my own. It is a whole other level
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of of food if you're making your own
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mayonnaise. But you can't do that all
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the time cuz you got to eat it right
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away.
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You got to eat it. You got it mess
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things up. It's not like you could just
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sl I'm going to make a ham sandwich 3
2:18
hours later. Now you've got your
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sandwich cuz you made you had to make
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the daddy's from scratch
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and then the next day you're back to the
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storebought one and you're like this is
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disgusting.
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So you become a bit of a snob. So why
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Spain and mayonnaise? Do you want to
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start us on our little origin tour?
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I c I can and I will. All right. So this
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is interesting. back in like 1756 during
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the seven years war which I didn't know
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much about until I did the research and
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found out that Monorca was under the
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British rule and the French were coming
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to take it over and the Duke of Rishelu
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he he he conquered it. He won he won his
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little battle and as a a victory his
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chef you making me wanted to
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you must bring a chef to your wars. Is
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this what was going on back then?
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Seriously.
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I think so. Well, if you're out
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pillaging and plundering you can't be
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cooking too. So
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that's true.
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So uh so the chef wanted to make a salsa
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blanca as we call here a white sauce a
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cream sauce and since
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well we love those French cream sauces.
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I mean I could see how you might want to
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bring your chef for those.
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I think so.
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And since there was a war going on,
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there were shortages and he couldn't he
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couldn't lay his hand on ner a pot of
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cream. And so he he he
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compromised with eggs and and olive oil
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and now and and now we have mayonnaise.
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I also just wanted to jump in and say
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the reason it's called mayonnaise is
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because they were in Monora and the
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capital of Monora is Maan. I don't know
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if it was the capital back then, but it
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was the city port of Maan, which is m a
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h o n. So, if you're looking at the name
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of our episode and wondering why we have
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an h in there, it is because it was
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named after the city and that is how the
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name became mayonnaise mayonnaise. right
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now. There is there is some this is
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where the French and that the Spanish
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are in disagreement and laying claim
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because the French say their chef
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invented it on Spanish soil and the
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French brought it back to France and
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perfected it. But the Spanish say the
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French got it from the town's people.
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Like they gave him the idea and he ran
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with it. And
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I'm going with the ladder. That seems
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more likely, doesn't it?
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like who just accidentally whips up eggs
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and and oil? I don't know. But, you
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know, they're chefs and they're
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creative. But, we're going with the
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Spanish version. And it also I mean, it
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got the name, so it sort of holds water,
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I think. Anyway,
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so in Spanish cooking, we can get into a
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little bit of that, uh, which is you
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don't necessarily think of Spanish
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cooking having a lot of mayonnaise, but
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if you live here, you will know that
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alioli is on everything. It's with
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everything. It's
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if it's not on the dish that you got,
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the restaurant will have it. It is a
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basic sauce and that is a mayonnaise
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like sauce which is made with olive oil
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and egg yolk and garlic as a base I
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think. And obviously you can add other
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things. So now that's what you'll find
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pretty much everywhere. It's and it's
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delicious. And I am an I am a convert.
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And I this is basically what we do with
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the mayonnaise that we buy now is it
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gets mixed with garlic. Lots and lots
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and lots of garlic.
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I love garlic. You know, as being an
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Italian, um a clove of garlic is
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actually a head of garlic. It's not, you
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know,
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it's true.
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It's not enough.
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It's still not enough.
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And so I guess we should talk about like
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what is the difference between you
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traditional ioli alioli versus mayonna.
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So originally
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ioli or in in in in the purest form or
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you know your your your
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um purists would say that it's just
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garlic, olive oil and salt, right?
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That's a lot of porter and meling what?
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Mortar and mort porter mortar and
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pestling.
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Mortal and pestling.
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I'm sure
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it is. And that would be the original
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that would be the original version that
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is done. But that can separate quite
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easily. And I maybe
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stabilize it and and to probably make it
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more
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more creamy now too because of
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uh mayonnaise taking over the world. So
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that's true. That's true. And I have to
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say, I'm going to be very very honest.
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If I've had it without the egg, I can't
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tell. So I may not have. And it it may
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be that it's very it always has the egg
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now. Or it may be that it's so creamy
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when you mix just the garlic and the oil
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together properly that you really get a
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creamy sauce. I don't know. I don't I
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don't believe I've had it without the
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egg. But I could be wrong. I'd have to
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have someone make both so that I could
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tell the difference because if it's that
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close, I can't tell.
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And I believe what I've been having has
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the egg, but I could be wrong. Well, I
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think if you're having it at like a the
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the the little tavern down the street
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that has four euro tapas and meals and
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stuff, they're probably buying it in a
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jug, which was probably got the egg yolk
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in it, right, to stabilize it. Yeah,
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I would imagine. Yeah. But you can go to
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the connoisseur and I've bought these
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very small little cute um little pots of
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alioli from them and it's absolutely
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delicious. And I think if there is an
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authentic, that would have to be it. But
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it is incredibly creamy and delicious.
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So again, I don't know. We'll have to
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explore to find that out. But yeah,
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that's that's basically the difference
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between mayonnaise and
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alioli. And where where do you put your
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a alioli
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on every food that comes out of the
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kitchen
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and probably there's Spanish people
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crying everywhere with the things that I
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put alioli on. Traditionally, let's get
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into one of our favorite tapas in our
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family. One of Zena's favorites is the
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patas braavas, which is a very
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kid-friendly just chopped up cubed
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little potatoes, deep fried, and then it
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has this white sauce and red sauce on
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it. And the white sauce is an alioli,
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and the red sauce is a salsa bravo. And
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that can vary in spiciness and flavor.
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We've had ones where we're like, "Oh my
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god, that's spicy way too much for me."
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and other ones where you really couldn't
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taste the difference between the two
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sources,
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right? And one that is like more red,
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less red. And I've tried like different
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brands from the store and I still
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haven't found the one that tastes like
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the one from the the one restaurant that
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has it the way that I want it
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that you like it and which is which is
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how spicy or
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spicy. Obviously spicy. Yeah. I will say
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if you get a really good potatoes braas
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with an alioli and a spicy red sauce,
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it's really nice because the two of
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those together when you start blending
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them is perfect.
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So it is like a really good combination
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when you get that.
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I do not disagree with you on that.
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Not even for fun.
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What else do we have it on?
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Well, we put it on our fried dishes,
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especially in Ander Lucia, like with
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fried fish. I mean, we do that here,
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too. I do it in my kitchen. And then
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so like instead of a tata sauce, you
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might you would have alioli probably.
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Yeah.
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Right. And they use it for you know
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salad dressing like you would use man
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like you know it's a very
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interchangeable with mayonnaise here
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like how you would use mayonnaise in I
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think in England and back in the states.
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Right. So it
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Yeah. And then you we have these
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pre-made that there's not a lot of
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pre-made food here, but in the grocery
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store you can get these pre-made salads.
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And they they do have an American salad
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which is kind of like a a cole saw,
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right? Which probably has a bit of
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mayonnaise, but I wouldn't call that
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Spanish in any shape or form. But what
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seems to be very popular here, and
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you'll find it on every tapas menu, is
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the en salad rousa, which is a Russian
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salad, which is like a potato,
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vegetable, tuna, and mayo salad. It's
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Yeah. Yeah. It's like everything. Got
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some bits of carrots in it, too. Like,
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it's everything.
10:10
It can have anything, I think.
10:12
Yeah.
10:14
And I mean, it's not my favorite. Sorry.
10:16
I will eat it, but it's I'm not buying
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it at the store and bringing it home.
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But if it's at a restaurant and they
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give it to me with by force,
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I think if you like a really really
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mayonnaisey potato salad, you might
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enjoy this one. But that is not how I
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like my potato salads. We're more oil,
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olive oil, and and stuff on the potato
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salad. So, we're not quite, but I think
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I think it would be comparable if you
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were kind of in that direction
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possibly.
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Right. Right.
10:41
Yep.
10:43
And this is something I haven't had,
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which is it it's called hueos rienos,
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which are hard-boiled eggs stuffed with
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tuna or a ham filling and it's topped
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with mayonnaise. So, to me, that seems
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like a like an upmarket deileled egg.
10:56
It does kind of feel that way. And I
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will say I've never seen that. And I've
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seen huevos royenos on the menu and what
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that usually is. So this might this
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might be different in this area anyway.
11:09
That's more of scrambled eggs and
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they're really good. They'll scrambled
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eggs with a little bit of shrimp or a
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little bit of something and that's like
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maybe one of a it might be a starter on
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a on a menu or something. So they do
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that a lot. I haven't seen
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eggs like devild eggs like this. Not
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against it. Seems like it might be good.
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I mean, I don't make them, but I I can
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handle a good devil egg.
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And I mean, I do love dipping my um like
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my prawns and crab cake, you the crab
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and crab meat and stuff in alolia, too.
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And and as well, I mean, it's
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Yeah. And then they're not big on loads
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and loads of vegetables, but they do
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love their artichokes here. So, you'll
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get like a tapas artich choke that's
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going to come with an alioli as well.
11:56
That's That's pretty good. Asparagus
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probably too.
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Mhm.
11:59
Um, so the next thing really is just the
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different regions have possibly slightly
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different versions of alioli. Right.
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Right. Right. So I think where we live
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and neighboring Catalonia, it's it's
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they're they're both similar and we like
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to pride ourselves that it's the most
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authentic, which is more of just the
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garlic and olive oil. Like there's no
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egg yolk in it. And it is it is a more
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pungent and but again I haven't I feel
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like I'm getting with the egg yolk
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because I I don't think I've gotten I
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need to go to a real Spanish I need to
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go with a real Spanish grandma's making
12:37
the
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I was going to say you need to find a
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grandma. Yeah.
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Well, at least I just need to find
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someone that will tell me for sure that
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this is what it is and then I'll be
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happy. So that I didn't even think of
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that as a question to ask. Does the
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alioli have egg in it? Okay. Never never
12:54
thought to ask.
12:55
Right.
12:56
Does sound good though. Yeah.
12:58
And and here they'll put it with I know
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your favorite food snails. And they'll
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Yes. Can never grilled meat.
13:06
Say no to a snail.
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And they'll mix it with grilled meats
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and and and and serve it with vegetables
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and those kinds of things.
13:15
So the next one is the Beric Islands.
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Malo Moka Mena
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Mininoa and Aitha. Now, that should be
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the original, right? Because that is
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literally where it should have started.
13:27
But they they are closer to the more
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mayonnaise like preparation where
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they've added the egg yolk and then
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whisk whisk it all together to get it
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into, you know, into one delicious
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mayonnaise. And obviously that's where
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the name comes from, mayonessa with an
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h. And this I have not actually been to
13:47
AA. I've been to the other islands, but
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I haven't been to Aitha. And it and we
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did learn that they put it with bread
13:53
before meals there a lot and I have seen
13:55
that here too. So I will take that to be
13:58
true because I have received sometimes
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in a in a restaurant a little bit of
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alioli in a in a little dish along when
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the bread came. So and it is delicious
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to dip bread in alioli. So again with
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anything is where it goes.
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I mean everything goes with bread
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obviously. So and everything goes with
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alioli. So stick them together and
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you've got a good you got a good thing
14:19
going.
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Right. And in Alakante and Martha they
14:22
call it aoha aete.
14:26
Aoiet. Yes. That sounds like I got all
14:28
those letters in.
14:29
Aoiet. So that is literally garlic and
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oil. So just name it what it is people.
14:34
What they will sometimes do down there
14:36
is use either boiled potatoes or bread
14:39
as a stabilizer to help um with the
14:41
emulsion which is
14:43
different. So, I could see that that
14:45
would work. I mean, you just need
14:47
something to bring it together because I
14:49
would imagine the olive oil and the
14:51
garlic would be really good right away.
14:54
And I would imagine it would separate
14:56
very quickly and also be quite hard. It'
14:58
be quite hard work getting it together
14:59
in the first place, I would imagine. So,
15:02
having a stabilizer of some kind of
15:04
emulsion thing that gets it together
15:06
would kind of make it last longer if
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grandma's not going to sit there and
15:09
just stir all dinner keeping it
15:11
together. That's what you have the
15:14
toddlers do. Just keep stirring that
15:15
while while the grown-ups eat,
15:17
right? That's what the kids are for.
15:19
And down there, they'll use it with rice
15:21
dishes like the rose abandon and grilled
15:24
fish. I mean fish. Imagine in Spain.
15:26
Yum.
15:27
The coastal towns of Spain eating fish.
15:29
No way.
15:31
Shocking.
15:33
I was going to say one thing that I I
15:35
did learn in our research on my end. I
15:38
don't know if you saw in my in my deep
15:39
dive, my my my spelunking through the
15:42
caves,
15:43
your deep dive into mayonnaise
15:45
was that the reason why the Y was added
15:49
was like a spelling mistake that it was
15:52
mayonnaise with an H for a long time and
15:55
then when someone was putting a cookbook
15:57
together, heard the mayonnaise and just
16:00
decided that was a Y because the H was
16:02
silent. So that was their silent, you
16:04
know, letter to put in.
16:06
Oh, interesting. Well, it can't have
16:07
been a British person because we have so
16:09
many silent letters that no one would be
16:10
phased by that. I wouldn't think that
16:14
makes sense. But we are going to call it
16:15
Mayana now in our house. Just just for
16:18
fun forever. So I mean that's pretty
16:20
much everything we learned about
16:21
mayonnaise and Spain. But it was fun to
16:24
fun to find out that it did originate
16:26
here.
16:26
Exactly. I agree.
16:28
Until the next Poco Poco.
16:29
Till the next Poco Poco.
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17:15
Bye.
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[Music]