The French Duke, His Minorcan Lover, and the Mayonnaise Sauce That United Them

It may not seem so captivating as to inspire sighs, clandestine affairs, or groundbreaking inventions, but the lady who accompanies us today in effigy (painted by Pasqual Calbó around 1785) might have been the protagonist of a love story that changed the course of culinary history. Eulàlia Taltavull i Serra, widow of Poly, is one of the three names culinary researcher Pep Pelfort considers as a possible lover (or at least a platonic beloved) of the Duke of Richelieu during his stay in Minorca in 1756.

Regarding the supposed "Minorcan origin" of mayonnaise or mahonesa, last week I mentioned that for decades there has been a rather spicy rumor linking the French marshal's devotion to this sauce with a truly carnal passion. It was revealed half a century ago by Camilo José Cela, who claimed to know of love letters between the Duke of Richelieu, leader of the military campaign that made Minorca part of France from 1756 to 1763, and a lady from the island. Louis-François-Armand de Vignerot du Plessis declared his passion to this lady in terms as unequivocal as they were savory, promising to remember her forever thanks to that "mimosa sauce with which you so often delighted my palate." As decency prevented him from publicly naming his beloved, he said he would at least name it in her honor with the same gentilic: mahonesa.

Pep Pelfort has been documenting and disseminating Minorcan culinary history for years and is an expert on the intricate origins of mayonnaise. Although the existence of different etymological theories and the debate among the defenders of Mayenne, Bayonne, and Mahón made it very difficult to trace the Mahon origin, we can summarize that in 1803 a dish called "mayonnaise de poulet" began to be mentioned in Paris, that the first somewhat peculiar recipe for mayonnaise was published in 1806, and that the formula as we know it today became popular from 1815, sometimes renamed as magnonnaise and bayonnaise.

By then, the hypothesis that its original French name was mahonnaise, after the Minorcan Mahón, had already been considered, and the Balearic connection gradually gained strength until the French, responsible for its universal fame, eventually mostly accepted that this delicious spread had been brought from the Balearic archipelago by Richelieu. There were doubts about whether it had been invented there by a French chef to celebrate the conquest of Minorca or if it was a native recipe of the island that the marshal had packed in his suitcase, but the causal relationship was quite clear.

Now, thanks to Pelfort, it is even clearer. He was the one who tracked down a mysterious unpublished recipe book from the mid-18th century, found it in a private library, studied it, and also made it possible, along with its current owner Francesc Solé Parellada, for its content to finally see the light. The 'Receptari Caules: 18th Century Minorcan Cuisine' (Barcino Publishing, 2024) will soon be translated into Spanish and English to proclaim to the world that mayonnaise, with an 'h', was born in Mahón. Or at least Richelieu discovered it very close by, in Alcaufar, where the wealthy Mercadal family received him on April 22, 1756.

On that same day, the wedding between heir Joan Mercadal Seguí and young Joana Caules Pons (later the owner of the recipe book) was celebrated, a banquet attended by the Frenchman and whose menu is noted in the cookbook we are discussing today. Among the many dishes served was a fish with sauce that, along with the beauty of a local lady, deeply enamored the duke.

What Richelieu would sighingly call "mahonnaise" was known 270 years ago as "salsa de peix crua" (raw fish sauce) and was made, as the recipe book explains, by beating egg yolks in a clay pot while slowly adding a thin stream of olive oil. To enhance the flavor, a bit of chopped onion, parsley, garlic, pepper, vinegar, and salt were incorporated, "stirring quickly so it doesn't curdle." In 1819, another handwritten recipe book titled 'Manual de la cuinera menorquina' included the same formula, now called "salsa d'ou" or egg sauce, made with lemon juice instead of vinegar.

And the lover, who was she? Pep Pelfort tells me that the love was real and that the letters exist, but the identity of the lady remains in the air. He has managed to narrow down the candidates to three: the bride Joana Caules, the mother-in-law and possible compiler of the recipes, Rita Seguí, and another wealthy Minorcan who also hosted Richelieu in her home, Eulàlia Taltavull. Look at her again in the painting and imagine her 30 years younger. Perhaps she was beautiful when young, or simply charming and also a good cook.