Difficulty:  Not easy.  Not impossible.

Or at least that’s what I’m calling it.  I am half Hungarian, and learned quite a bit from my Grandmother, God Bless her, who is likely going to be skeptical of this rendition from her lofty distance, but anyway, this is a creation I first tasted as the dressing on traditional Hungarian yellow potato salad.  I love that salad – rich, creamy, even with only the two ingredients (mayo & potatoes).  I then learned to make the mayonnaise myself and realized it had a lot more potential – I suppose like most mayonnaise.  Anyway, should you one day make this yourself, it is divine as a sauce for a seafood salad, but nearly perfect as a dipper to cold fried chicken or pork.    I could go on but will get on with the task at hand, which is no small task.

I actually had to make this a bit backwards in the sense that the only thing we (family/Hungarians, etc. ) have ever started with is how many eggs on which to base the rest of the recipe.  Below are the main ingredients and for the first time I have associated a measured quantity with those ingredients to get to where you will want to go with this, but in the end you will need to play.  I’ll explain after the list.

 

4 egg yolks

1 cup light olive oil or avocado oil or a mixture of both to get to 1 C.  (You can use any oil really, but these two are mild in taste, which they need to be, and are healthier in nature)

1-1/2 TB red wine vinegar

1 TB lemon juice (real lemon)

1 tsp. sugar

1 TB yellow mustard

1 tsp. grated onion (pulp really)

Dash+ salt

 

The oil will need to be emulsified into the egg yolks, so depending on your choice of blender/mixer, etc., place your yolks into the desired container.  The oil will need to be very slowly drizzled at first while the yolks are being mixed, and then a slightly more generous pour as more oil is accepted.  Regardless of above quantities, you will want to get the consistency of the egg/oil mixture to that of a rather thick mayonnaise because you will be dramatically thinning it with the other wet ingredients.  My typical gage is once I see the mixture coming away from the walls of the bowl for several minutes, it is good to proceed with the rest.

Put the rest of the ingredients into the bowl and mix.  And taste.  If you are lucky, it will taste perfect initially, and if you’ve never tasted this delightful sauce the challenge might be greater, but the general rule is making sure your tongue is happy with the balance of fat (oiliness) to sour to salt and to sweet, and that it has a light, slightly mustardy-lemon flavor.   I have only ever tasted my way to the end.  I realize vagueness is fairly opposite to a recipe.  Tell me how you do:}