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Soooo…this week we are frosting a whole head of cauliflower with mayonnaise. Then putting capers and olives on it.

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It’s called Cauliflower Supreme and, when you cut it, the inside looks like a brain.

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I think this is a pretty appropriate recipe for the beginning of October. I had originally planned to do Halloween-themed recipes for this entire month, but why bother to search out Halloween-themed recipes when mid-century food is scary enough on its own?

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Two cups of mayonnaise! Two. Cups. I don’t even…wow. That’s a lot of mayo.

Cauliflower Supreme
Author: Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, Advertisment, Better Homes & Gardens – September 1954
Ingredients
  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 2 cups Hellmann’s Mayonnaise
  • Black Olives
  • Capers
  • Hard-Boiled Eggs
  • Shrimp
Instructions
  1. Cook one perfect while cauliflower whole. Cool, then chill.
  2. Mask completely with Real Mayonnaise, place on crisp watercress.
  3. Surround with fresh or frozen cooked shrimp, hard-cooked eggs.
  4. Stud with black olives, capers.

 

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Luckily, this one was pretty easy, so I didn’t have a lot of time to contemplate things or second-guess myself. It was just a matter of covering the cooked cauliflower with mayo and then decorating it with olives and capers.

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It actually looks sort of pretty, don’t you think? I mean, if you don’t think about the fact that there is about an inch of just mayo covering this thing.

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There. Very pretty, in a weird mid-century food sort of way.

Oh, and I forgot to buy shrimp and I couldn’t find watercress, so I left them out. But really, what’s a garnish of shrimp going to do for this anyway?

At this point, Tom wandered onto the scene. And started laughing.

“So, what’s the story with this thing?”

“It’s one of those advertisements from a 1954 Better Homes & Gardens magazine. It’s supposed to be French.”

“French, huh?”

“Apparently.”

“Julia Child, eat your heart out.”

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A cross-section!

Tom TastesIMG_3590

“Nice face.”

“This is bad.”

“How does it taste?”

“So…much…mayo!”

The Verdict: Too Much Mayo

From The Tasting Notes:

The thick layer of mayo is just too much. It completely overpowers the entire dish, except when you get a bite of caper in with your mayo. Then it is just weird. Might be a good salad if everything was chopped and mixed up. So even though this one got points for mid-century flair and drama, the presentation was also its downfall.

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