Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip?

[AustinTink]

Mayo for potato salad, chicken salad, tuna sandwiches. Miracle whip for the trash.

 

[AustinTink]

My husband buys Hellman's Mayo.

My mom drilled Hellman’s into my brain and that’s all I buy. I have tried others for potato salad and lo and behold mom was right.

 

[Imzadi]

Pretty sure the FDA ensures that Miracle Whip is safe to eat.

That's because they don't actually eat it.

 

[NotUrsula]

I vaguely remember some brand of margarine coming with a little packet of liquid yellow food color. The margarine itself was white and unappealing so you were supposed to add the yellow color to make it less unappetizing. I don’t think it was petroleum jelly but rather vegetable shortening like Crisco.

As for mayo vs Miracle Whip, we usually have both in the house. And sometimes Hellman’s “Sandwich Spread” or other mimics.

Yes, I know that packaging it with separate yellow coloring was common when margarine first became available, but that's not the situation I'm speaking of.

My parents' experience was in the UK during WW2, when petroleum jelly was one of the few things that were cheap and plentiful; many unscrupulous store owners tried to disguise it and pass it off as other food products. As most Britons of the time were used to real butter and had never actual eaten margarine, wartime "margarine" was something you could easily get away with faking, because customers didn't know what it was actually supposed to taste like.

 

[gmi3804]

Mayo is a creamy emulsion of egg yolks, oil, and lemon juice/vinegar. It's one of the classic French sauces, though not one of the main "mother sauces."

 

[Robber Baron]

I don't even know what Miracle Whip is.

When I need mayo, I buy mayo, I'm not usually looking around for another white spreadable substance.

How do you even buy Miracle Whip the first time?

 

[gmi3804]

How do you even buy Miracle Whip the first time?

IKR? It’s like pole vaulting!

 

[Dan Murphy]

We have mayo in the house but makes little difference to me.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

OK this reminds me of our first trip to New York City in 2015. We went to a diner on our first night there. I ordered a club sandwich and the waiter says, "Best Foods or Hellman's?" I literally froze up. I've ordered many club sandwiches before and had never been asked that question. I started wondering if it was a trick. Did the waiter smell "tourist family from California" and decide to mess with us? Is it really a question they ask in NYC diners? Is there even a difference between the two? Will I be judged if I give the wrong answer? So I just said, "Um...Best Foods?" The waiter kind of smirked so I quickly said, "Wait! Hellman's? Is that the right answer?" At this point, my family as well as the two NYPD officers at the next table were very amused at my situation. The waiter just shook his head and walked away. I have no idea what kind of mayo was put on my sandwich. I went back to the hotel and asked the concierge if this was a normal question and, if so, what is the correct answer. He said, "Some people do have a preference and they'll usually say so when they order. I think the waiter was just having fun with you." I said, "Is is that obvious that we're not from this coast?" The concierge said, 'Yeah. Pretty much!"

 

[tvguy]

When I was a kid I always assumed people bought MW instead of Mayo (like my grandparents) because it was cheaper, but I actually paid attention at the store a while back and saw that MW is often the same price and sometimes even more than Mayo?? How long has this been going on, and...WHY??

More expensive here than mayo.

 

[Moliphino]

OK this reminds me of our first trip to New York City in 2015. We went to a diner on our first night there. I ordered a club sandwich and the waiter says, "Best Foods or Hellman's?" I literally froze up. I've ordered many club sandwiches before and had never been asked that question. I started wondering if it was a trick. Did the waiter smell "tourist family from California" and decide to mess with us? Is it really a question they ask in NYC diners? Is there even a difference between the two? Will I be judged if I give the wrong answer? So I just said, "Um...Best Foods?" The waiter kind of smirked so I quickly said, "Wait! Hellman's? Is that the right answer?" At this point, my family as well as the two NYPD officers at the next table were very amused at my situation. The waiter just shook his head and walked away. I have no idea what kind of mayo was put on my sandwich. I went back to the hotel and asked the concierge if this was a normal question and, if so, what is the correct answer. He said, "Some people do have a preference and they'll usually say so when they order. I think the waiter was just having fun with you." I said, "Is is that obvious that we're not from this coast?" The concierge said, 'Yeah. Pretty much!"

Aren't those two the same thing, just named differently based on geography?

 

[Imzadi]

OK this reminds me of our first trip to New York City in 2015. We went to a diner on our first night there. I ordered a club sandwich and the waiter says, "Best Foods or Hellman's?" I literally froze up. I've ordered many club sandwiches before and had never been asked that question. I started wondering if it was a trick. Did the waiter smell "tourist family from California" and decide to mess with us? Is it really a question they ask in NYC diners? Is there even a difference between the two? Will I be judged if I give the wrong answer? So I just said, "Um...Best Foods?" The waiter kind of smirked so I quickly said, "Wait! Hellman's? Is that the right answer?" At this point, my family as well as the two NYPD officers at the next table were very amused at my situation. The waiter just shook his head and walked away. I have no idea what kind of mayo was put on my sandwich. I went back to the hotel and asked the concierge if this was a normal question and, if so, what is the correct answer. He said, "Some people do have a preference and they'll usually say so when they order. I think the waiter was just having fun with you." I said, "Is is that obvious that we're not from this coast?" The concierge said, 'Yeah. Pretty much!"

I grew up with Hellmann's, being an east coaster. I didn't know Hellmann's is a regional mayo - made by the exact same company which also makes Best Foods - with the exact same recipe. I lived in CA for a few years. Every time I went grocery shopping I searched high and low for my beloved Hellmann's. Couldn't find it anywhere. But, there was always this generic brand, with an even more generic looking label, called Best Foods mayo every where.

Then one day, I went into the 99 Cent store, and they had cases upon cases of the $5.99 Hellmann's mayo stocked up on pallets for only $0.99. They weren't close to expiration date. They were just sitting there like they were just another non-familiar, "off-brand" item being sold so cheaply. That's when I realized Hellmann's is a regional thing. The east coast overstock was being off-loaded at the west coast dollar stores.

The Best Foods label didn't look like this back then:

 

[Imzadi]

Aren't those two the same thing, just named differently based on geography?

 

[lilmc]

Hellman’s mayo only (or Best Food’s depending on your region)

 

[MillauFr]

OK this reminds me of our first trip to New York City in 2015. We went to a diner on our first night there. I ordered a club sandwich and the waiter says, "Best Foods or Hellman's?" I literally froze up. I've ordered many club sandwiches before and had never been asked that question. I started wondering if it was a trick. Did the waiter smell "tourist family from California" and decide to mess with us? Is it really a question they ask in NYC diners? Is there even a difference between the two? Will I be judged if I give the wrong answer? So I just said, "Um...Best Foods?" The waiter kind of smirked so I quickly said, "Wait! Hellman's? Is that the right answer?" At this point, my family as well as the two NYPD officers at the next table were very amused at my situation. The waiter just shook his head and walked away. I have no idea what kind of mayo was put on my sandwich. I went back to the hotel and asked the concierge if this was a normal question and, if so, what is the correct answer. He said, "Some people do have a preference and they'll usually say so when they order. I think the waiter was just having fun with you." I said, "Is is that obvious that we're not from this coast?" The concierge said, 'Yeah. Pretty much!"

If they were messing with you they would have squeezed some lemon juice into (not)Miracle Whip and called it aioli.

 

[Babs Johnson]

I don't even know what Miracle Whip is.

When I need mayo, I buy mayo, I'm not usually looking around for another white spreadable substance.

How do you even buy Miracle Whip the first time?

When you discover how delicious Miracle Whip is after being served by your parents and grandparents, it’s easy to buy it yourself for the first time.

 

[Deb]

Aren't those two the same thing, just named differently based on geography?

yes. And I would be surprised if a diner in NYC in 2015 could actually source Best Foods. At least on purpose. I guess it's possible the warehouse received cases of Best Foods in error and passed them along, but I think it's more likely they had a clue to OP was from the west coast and was just messing with them.
And since I haven't chimed in yet. Mayo. Always

 

[ronandannette]

Miracle Whip isn't mayonnaise, and vice versa. I don't know why they're always associated with each other. Maybe because they look alike, and some people aren't in the habit of recognizing the differences?

Totally. This question is like asking “Red curry paste or raspberry jam?”.

 

[NotUrsula]

My mom drilled Hellman’s into my brain and that’s all I buy. I have tried others for potato salad and lo and behold mom was right.

Regionally popular brands of jarred mayo have slightly different recipes, and depending on which one you are used to, your salad recipes may not taste "right" when made with a different brand. Everyone has a family recipe that we get all in a twist about if anyone varies the recipe at ALL.

Miracle Whip was purposely designed by Kraft to be a cheaper mayonnaise substitute (because it doesn't contain oil, and originally was made with dehydrated powdered eggs, though they switched to fresh eggs decades ago), and has run ads comparing their flavors for decades, which is why people associate them.

Personally, I'm not super hung-up on mayo perfection, and will generally eat any decent brand of it put before me, but I do notice the different flavor notes. My own preference, like most Americans, is for the brand I grew up with, which in my case is Blue Plate. I can't get it where I currently live, so I'll usually go with Dukes nowadays, but Hellman's is fine, too, and even Kraft is acceptable. I don't like MW because I find it very overly sweet, and I probably wouldn't want any really sweet mayo, either.

I've heard from a lot of people that they really like Kewpie brand once having tasted it. Kewpie is Japanese and uses only the yolks of the egg; supposedly it has more of a umami note than most American brands. All I know is that it's very comparatively expensive unless bought at Costco, but I don't use enough mayo to buy that size of it. (I'm quite a warehouse shopper, but I just can't buy anything there that I know will spoil before I get halfway through the container.) As it happens, Blue Plate is also a yolk-only recipe, so it's more in this style.

 

[greeneyedchick]

I won't touch either but your thread title made me think of one of the last episodes of Better Call Saul. I hd forgotten about that show...