Originally Posted by
keeton
You people.
When I was growing up, mayonnaise was typically the salad dressing of choice. When my mother (rest her Southern soul) served a wedge of iceberg lettuce with a dallop of mayo (and maybe a slice of pineapple), with dinner, I knew I was loved.
As for not being "proper," that characterization is only a pompous platitude. Many other salad dressings are mayo based (or use similar ingredients). If it's tasty, it works. I won't argue the caloric impact, however.
I also concur. Mayonnaise is considered (and heavily used) as salad dressing in many Eastern European countries, in fact its the most common salad dressing in that region. Now, Eastern Europeans would never use the Americanized version of mayo, which is just nasty, but rather would use mayo with higher vinegar content (commonly referred to as Mayonnaise Provancal, or French Mayonnaise, depending on the country).
I agree that mayo is not common to use as salad dressing in NA, but it certainly can be used as such.