White Gold

A beautiful fillet of fish, a thick and creamy soup, a crispy pile of French fries, and a plate of golden calamari rings; what do these dishes have in common? The answer is simple: mayonnaise, globs of flavor destroying, rib sticking white gold. Foolishly, though happily, I left the United States thinking that I had left mayonnaise behind. After spending several months here in Malaga, I have discovered that mayonnaise is an integral part of the Mediterranean diet. In reality, the popularity of mayonnaise in Spain shouldn’t be very surprising. The two main ingredients of mayonnaise, oil and eggs, are readily available in Spain. Unlike the United States, in Spain, mayonnaise is not relegated to the demeaning role of a condiment. In Spain mayonnaise can also have a grander role. To my horror and bewilderment one chilly November afternoon, I found myself eating Gazpachuelo, a soup whose broth is derived from mayonnaise. My particular aversion to mayonnaise stems from my allegiance to ketchup, an allegiance that produces the same aversion in Spain. The lack of a Heinz ketchup factory in Spain and the abundance of oil and eggs make the Spanish fascination with mayonnaise understandable. The prevalence of mayonnaise in Spanish cuisine is a visible difference between our two cultures.