Marie-Antoine Carême (1784-1833), known as the founder of the concept of haute cuisine, also bestowed his enormous gifts on the evolution of mayonnaise.

Years after its debut as a sauce, Carême lightened the original mayonnaise recipe by blending the vegetable oil and egg yolks into an emulsion. It was his recipe that became famous throughout Europe, and subsequently, the United States.

Then, having created a masterful sauce, he went on to devise the system of mother sauces that is fundamental to classic French cooking; as well as choux pastry, the hot soufflé and many other indispensable, including the chef’s toque. He is known as The King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings,” as he worked for Napoleon, the Rothschilds, Tallyrand and Tsar Alexander, among others.

Richard Hellmann (1876-1971) who immigrated from Vetschau, Germany (south of Berlin) in 1903, married the daughter of a delicatessen owner. He opened his own delicatessen on the Upper West Side, at 490 Columbus Avenue between 83rd and 84th Streets.

Some say it was Hellmann’s own recipe; other stories say that it was made by his wife* (who may have, in fact, made it using her husband’s recipe). Whoever originated it, the mayonnaise, used in salads and on sandwiches at the deli, became so popular that he began to sell it as a separate product, and then in bulk to other stores.

There were two versions of the recipe, packed in wooden “boats” that were used to weigh butter. A blue ribbon around one of the styles differentiated the two. The “blue ribbon” variety sold much better, so Hellmann designed a “Blue Ribbon” label and packaged that product in larger glass jars.

 

Sales of Hellmann’s Blue Ribbon Mayonnaise were so good that Richard Hellmann started a distribution business, purchased a fleet of trucks and, in 1912, built a manufacturing plant. Business was so good that he sold the delicatessen by 1915, to devote his full time to the mayonnaise business.

He opened a small mayonnaise factory at 120 Lawrence Street (now West 126th Street). By the end of this year he had a much larger factory in Long Island City.

 

In 1916, the company was incorporated as Richard Hellman, Inc. Hellman tried making other products, including horseradish and pumpernickel bread; but decided to keep his focus on the booming mayonnaise business.

 

At about the same time, in California, Best Foods (now Best Foods) introduced an equally popular mayonnaise. The business, born as American Linseed Company in the 1800s, began to diversify in 1917, acquiring the Nucoa Butter Company, whose largest subsidiary, The Best Foods, Inc., produced margarine, mayonnaise, and other edible-oil products.

In 1932, Best Foods bought the Hellmann’s brand and decided to keep both brand names. To this day, Best Foods Mayonnaise is sold west of the Rocky Mountains and Hellmann’s is sold east of the Rocky Mountains. The two brands account for approximately 45% of all bottled mayonnaise sold in the U.S.