While most folks consider mayonnaise to be a condiment, any half-way decent chef will tell you that, technically, it’s a sauce. Beautiful in its simplicity, mayo is nothing more than egg yolks, oil, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. That’s it. On the other hand, Miracle Whip — mayo’s cheaper cousin — adds vinegar and sweeteners to the recipe, which gives it a provocatively different flavor that doesn’t come close to real mayonnaise.
The bottom line: Whether you like the stuff or not, Miracle Whip is not mayonnaise — and that’s why a proper tuna sandwich is never made with it. Ever.
Photo Credit: Photo Monkey
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Great post. I can’t stand Miracle Whip. Check that. I hate it. What I’d like to know is how could there even be a market for MW? Do that many people actually like it?
Sadly, enough to keep it on supermarket shelves everywhere.
AMEN!
yo!
Now you’re treading on thin ice. Having been a MW man my whole life, I’m finally finding a topic to disagree with you on…
… and I can assure you there is absolutely no chance for reconciliation on this.
A proper sandwich doesn’t have mayonnaise or miracle whip. Or tuna for that matter. It has meat and cheese. Maybe lettuce. Anything else is unacceptable.
Wait a minute; tuna fish is meat.
Amen, brother! Preach it!!!
I prefer Miracle Whip! Hands Down.
If I ever stop by your house for a tuna sandwich, remind me to bring my own mayo.
Oh my gosh Len, I feel the complete opposite of you. I feel tuna or potato salad that is not laced with Miracle Whip is not worth the calories it is made of. I need that zing!! Bring on the sweeteners and vinegar!
Knowing that you’re from the Midwest, I’m not surprised, Kris. My folks were from Ohio and so when I was a kid they used Miracle Whip too — at least for a little while. Somewhere down the road they switched over to real mayo.
Is it just me, or is Miracle Whip very popular in the Midwest?
I do not use either, I am trying to develop an alternative. My wife adds pickle relish and celery to the tuna or nothing at all in a salad.
Eeww. Pickle relish is for hot dogs — and celery is for, well, I’m really not sure what celery is for.
it is for ranch dressing!
and peanut butter!
You, sir, are wrong.
That’s what the Honeybee likes to tell me all the time too. (Although she never calls me “sir.”)
This post cracked me up! The age old battle..MW vs. Mayo. I grew up in western PA, we were a miracle whip family. I live in OH now and still prefer the tangy taste of MW. Mayo is tasteless to me. Even the way it is in the jar, all blubbery and fatty looking. YUCK!!
A few years back I found a recipe for a macaroni salad that uses half MW and half mayo and a bit of dill pickle juice for the dressing. It’s awesome…try it some day.
Um, I think I’ll pass on your macaroni salad, monica — but thank you. You know, I never thought of mayo as being “blubbery” but, now that you mention it, I think you may be right. LOL!
So put me down as a proponent of blubbery tuna fish sandwiches!
Now can you tell me why you folks from the Midwest love Miracle Whip so much?
grins…a proper tuna fish sandwich doesn’t have mw huh!!!! well, a proper sandwich doesn’t have tuna fish either.
LOL! Maybe you and Kevin from Thousandaire should go out for lunch one of these days and enjoy some REAL sandwiches!
My wife and I prefer the Real Thing(tm) — mayo. Can’t take any of that so-call “miracle” whip.
What’s with the name “Miracle Whip” anyway? Sounds like an S&M toy.
Our son, however, is more diplomatic — he doesn’t like either. His preference is for a good brown mustard with a bit of horseradish.
ROTFL! “Sounds like an S&M toy.” Good one, DC! (I hope you don’t mind if I steal that one.)
REAL mayo all the way! My father would have cursed if there was MW on his table. And at the risk of making some people really hate me, the only REAL mayo is REGULA Hellmann’s/Best Foods. All the others are just cheap imitations….and that includes fat free and reduced fat mayos from Hellmann’s/Best Foods!
Agreed, Libby. Best Foods is the best!
I don’t really like either one. I didn’t know there was a difference between the two. I guess that is how much I like them…
Really? I think the difference between the two is profound and unmistakable.
Iv”e been using miricle whip for over 40 years and I was born and raised in southern cal.I use it in my mashed potato salad, yes I said mashed with onion,olives and a shot of mustard. love it on cheeseburgers with red onion,lettuce,mustard. Put a can of tuna in a bowel, mix in MW and sweet or dill relish on wheat bread, YUMM!Get out of the boring rut you mayo users are in, add some spice to your life,GO MIRICLE WHIP!!P.S.Why do some people say TUNA FISH instead of just TUNA?? Is there some other kind of tuna??
Um, I don’t want to put a can of tuna in a bowel!
I’d rather put the tuna in a bowl, mix it, eat it, and let it work its way into a bowel.
Hmmmm.
Maybe it is a class difference??
Maybe it is a cost difference??
Maybe it is what you grew up with? I grew up in a family of 5 children, in the ’50′s/60′s where we worked on the peanut farm in central Texas.
Mayo is an acquired taste – I use it if nothing else is there