Page 226 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2024 LIMA

CRUISINGTHEMED

SOMETIMES it’s A REAL ADVENTURE

Story and photography by John Freeman

E ver wondered who invented mayon‐
naise?
Me neither, at least until I took
an October 2023 Mediterranean Sea
cruise that included a stop at the small
Balearic Island of Menorca. Not to be con‐
fused with its nearby and much larger
cousin, Mallorca, not to be confused with
Majorca. Same isle, different spelling.
What does this have to do with mayon‐
naise?
Only that Menorca’s largest town,
Mahón, perhaps too proudly claims to be
the birthplace of what we call mayo, which
when you say it slowly sounds something
like mayonnaise. Or so they say.
As the story goes, the first batch of
mayonnaise was concocted in the 1700s olive oil was whisked briskly and then
when French forces, no doubt led by hastily dispatched to France, where the
casque à mèche-wearing sous chefs, took creamy condiment was christened as may‐
control of the island, if only briefly. onnaise and hailed as being as French as
To doubtless celebrate, a gloppy yel‐ French fries.
lowish mashup of eggs (yolks intact) and As for why Hellmann’s mayo is so cot‐

226 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2024