Unlike rice cakes, black bean paste, and kimchi, mayo was born not in Korea or anywhere else in northeast Asia, but in western Europe, where both France and Spain claim credit for its creation. The condiment, made from the emulsification of eggs, oil, and an acidic liquid such as vinegar, was crowned by Auguste Escoffier in 1912 as the mother of French cold sauces—the culinary equivalent of being consecrated by the Pope.
Mayo has since become a sauce of the people—that is to say, commercially produced and widely available to Americans. And Americans have met abundant supply with prodigious demand. In 2021, it was the most popular condiment in the United States, with $164 million worth of jars taken off the shelves. An American, so accustomed to mayo as a fact of life, might be surprised to find that it is considered by some Koreans to be their own condiment, its section on the H Mart shelf an outpost of familiarity bobbing in a sea of foreign unfamiliarity.
