Mayonnaise and Salad Dressings

Mayonnaise and salad dressings are essentially emulsions of vegetable oil in vinegar with egg yolks being used as an emulsifying agent. Mustard flour is commonly included as an additional emulsifier, to stabilize the emulsion and most importantly to impart flavour.

In North America, where a slightly spicy taste is preferred, a blend of yellow and oriental flours are used.

Whole or crushed seeds are used for visual appeal and texture in salad dressings.

In Europe, a mild tasting mayonnaise is preferred, therefore pure yellow mustard flour is primarily used. The taste is complimented by the strong “eggy” flavour imparted by yellow mustard after aging.

Deactivated mustard can be used to partially replace egg yolks in real mayonnaise to lower cholesterol levels and achieve cost reduction. The addition of yellow mustard flour will replace the taste of the egg yolks which has been reduced in the formulation.