Frencho de Mayo(nnaise)

 

Cinco de Mayo is when the Mexican resistance army managed to beat the cheese out of a very well armed French army that was twice their size (and this was back when the French were actually good at fighting). The Mexicans sent those stinky mayonnaise eaters on their dinghies back to France and now the rest of North America uses May 5th as an excuse to crank up the Marriachi and wear sombreros.

Imagine if the French had made love not war. Would we be drinking les vin-gheritas and des tacos avec Dijon? ‘Ow do you zay, le gross? Let’s hope it would have been something a little more like this recipe for grilled prawns with 5 variations on mayonnaise. Serve it all up with some sweet potato fries (les sweet frites) and let’s call it a Frencho de Mayo(nnaise).

Mayonnaise

These are so incredibly easy, just combine the ingredients in small bowls and serve with a spoon to garnish.

Make all of them or choose a couple and double up the recipe.

Cilantro and jalapeno mayo

½ cup mayonnaise

8 sprigs of cilantro, very finely chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and very finely minced

pinch of salt

Garlic and lime

½ cup mayonnaise

2 cloves of garlic, grated

zest and juice of 1 lime

pinch of salt

Chipotle mayo

½ cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp chipotle hot sauce, or more to taste

pinch of salt

Lemon and oregano

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tsp oregano

juice and zest of 1 lemon

Roasted red pepper and cayenne

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup, roasted red pepper, finely chopped or sliced into thin ribbons

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

pinch of salt

everything else...

Depending on how you look at it you can either serve the grilled prawns and sweet potato fries (les sweet frites) with mayo or serve the mayo with grilled prawns and les sweet frites. 

les sweet frites

1 or two large sweet potatoes

vegetable oil

salt to taste

Preheat oven to 425˚

.

Peel the sweet potato and cut into wedges however you want to dip them.  Lay them on a parchment lined baking sheet with plenty of room to breath between each wedge and toss the whole lot in the oven for 40 minutes. Flip them once half way through. Keep an eye on them after 30 minutes to make sure they don’

t get to dark from the sugar burning. Finish with salt to taste.

Grilled Prawns

2 pounds of tiger prawns, heads off, shells on

Fire up the barbecue to maximum fire-power. Two pounds of tiger prawns will feed 6 hungry people. Jab five prawns on a skewer all facing the same direction with a little space between each prawn. You should end up with about 12 skewers, depending on size.

When the grill is hot, place the prawns on the grill so the skewer handles are hanging off the edge and out of the line of fire. This will make flipping flipping-easy. Cook the prawns for about 2-3 minutes per side and check to see if they are done, then get them back to the table and eat them while they’

re hot. Peel and eat with your fingers with loads of mayonnaise for dipping and a pile of les sweet frites. Don't forget to check out the gallery.