How to Serve Oeufs-Mayo (Oeufs Dur Mayonnaise)

Here’s how to serve oeufs-mayo (oeufs dur mayonnaise, or hard-cooked eggs with mayonnaise), one of my all-time-favorite classic French Bistro dishes. Scroll and learn–these babies can round out a meal in minutes. 

Never underestimate the pleasures of oeufs-mayo!

I’ll never forget the first time I had oeufs-mayonnaise in France. We were in a touristy little town (Eze Village up above the Côte d’Azur). We figured the food would be middling, but when Dave ordered a first course of oeufs-mayo—eggs with mayonnaise—I thought, really, how ordinary can it get? 

Eze Village—have you been? It’s a spectacular place, and it’s also where I tasted my first oeufs-mayo. Thank you Paul Mead, for the photo, via Flickr.

But what came to the table was a revelation. Indeed, the dish simply comprised hard-cooked eggs with a little Dijon mustard-flavored mayonnaise, which I’m pretty sure came straight from a tube. But the accompaniments—a little lettuce, a few cornichons, and some olives—made it all into this really lovely knife-and-fork appetizer.

Since then, and especially during the summer, I keep hard-boiled eggs on hand in the refrigerator; that way, whenever I make one of my fresh-and-simple French salad, whether veggies, grains, or legumes, I have something to pop onto the plate so that I can call it a meal.

My version of oeufs-mayo goes a bit beyond squeezing mayo from a tube onto some eggs–I like to doctor these cuties up with a few other ingredients: fresh herbs, lemon juice, Dijon mustard—the recipe is here.

So, here goes. A few of my favorite ways to serve oeufs-mayo:

1. As part of a sit-down appetizer spread.

How easy is this?

Roast some asparagus, set out some olives and prosciutto. Add some breadsticks. Then pass the platter for a great sit-down appetizer course. If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere where you can pick up some good pâté, substitute that for the prosciutto.

2. To Round Out a Light Lunch or Dinner of Fresh French Summer Salads

Serve it with whatever salads you’re craving.

The other day, I made my French Green Lentil Salad (it’s in the book!), and a little mushroom-celery salad. Served simply with a good cracker spread with tapenade (which I always keep on hand) and oeufs-mayo, it was a great summer lunch. (PS: Here are some other ways to serve tapenade.)

I took this in my apartment in France. Everything here was available about six steps from my door.

Okay–this is cheating, because I didn’t make any of these salads. I got them at the traiteur in Collioure. Tabbouleh, carrots râpé, and celeris remoulade, plus some charcuterie. If you happen to live near a French deli, this could be dinner tonight. If not, you’ll have to make these goodies yourself. (Yes, the recipes are in my book!)

Oeufs Mayo with my Comté-Walnut Salad

Another variation on the theme, this time with my Butterhead Lettuce Salad with Walnuts and Comté (one of my favorites!), my Chick Pea Salad Provençal, a little prosciutto, and that cracker-tapenade song-and-dance.

 3. With Ratatouille

One of my favorite was to serve ratatouille…with a hard-cooked egg somewhere on the plate!

Ratatouille can be a bit of a mystery: Is it a side? A starter? A garnish? I serve it a lot of different ways, but here, it stars in an ensemble with my French Tabbouleh, a few ouefs-mayo, and some crackers with a little semi-ripened goat cheese.  (And if you don’t know the difference between semi-ripened and regular goat cheese, maybe you should check out my Goat Cheese Primer!).

Okay, mes amis! It’s your turn. Tell me how you like to serve Oeufs-Mayo! Post here, or join the discussion on my Facebook page.

PS: If you enjoyed this post, I bet you’d like my book, The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food That French Women Cook Every Day. Please click on the link and give it a look! If you order it through this link, you’ll help support this site–and it won’t cost you any more at all. Thanks for your consideration!