Homemade mayonnaise is a different beast than store-bought. Even my favorite brands, Kewpie and Duke’s, can’t match the richness and tang of homemade mayonnaise. The texture is less wobbly, the flavor fresher, and you can customize it by playing with acid (vinegar or lemon?), eggs (whole eggs or just yolks?), and fats (duck fat mayonnaise, anyone?). And homemade mayonnaise isn’t hard to make, with or without a blender, but there’s always a learning curve when working with emulsions.

An emulsion is a mixture of two liquids that do not naturally mix, usually oil and water (or two ingredients containing oil and water). To create a stable emulsion, you suspend one of the liquids (oil) in the other (in our case, a mixture of acid, eggs, and spices) by gradually adding it in small amounts. These small bits of oil remain suspended in the watery environment, creating a smooth, stable sauce. (Other famous emulsions include vinaigrettes, ice cream, and hollandaise sauce.)

Emulsifiers, like egg yolks and mustard, help keep the mixture harmonious. These ingredients contain molecules with both water- and fat-soluble parts, which help to bind the two together and prevent your emulsion from breaking down into a greasy, curdled mess.

You can make mayonnaise with a food processor, a hand blender, or a simple whisk. Each process is a little different, but you do the same thing every time: slowly add fat to simmer it in a watery environment.