Ali’s the only vegan in our Food Development meetings, but she never makes a big deal out of it. However, I think this moment had to be a proud one for her.
You may remember we’ve been opposed to veganaise for a long time. Ayr and Rolando tried it back in the beginning, along with vegan cheese. And there was never a vegan mayo that could hold up taste-wise to regular mayo.
Fast forward to 2014, and there might be something on the horizon to change our point of view. At our last Food Development meeting, we did a side-by-side tasting. Chris made 2 Clover potato salads, one with Hellman’s and one with Just Mayo, a new product Whole Foods has been using. Since Ayr was leading the tasting, we did this totally scientifically. 6 tiny portions of potato salad, Hellman’s and Just Mayo, mixed up on a tray. Megan and I each randomly grabbed 6 of each and had to place them in 2 columns: Hellman’s and Just Mayo.
We each got 3 right and 3 wrong. We had no ability to distinguish a difference. And I am a proud lover of mayo. What does this mean? We may consider using Just Mayo for items in which there is no distinguishable difference.