What Made You Think I Wanted Mayonnaise on My Sandwich?

I was a fussy eater as a child. I will admit that. Mealtimes were a real stressor for me and my family especially when we travelled or ate out. Over the years I have introduced a large number foods, that I hated or wouldn't eat as a child into my diet.

The exceptions however are mayonnaise and its co-offender mustard.

These two condiments are ubiquitously added to sandwiches and other foods without any consideration as to whether people would actually like them on their food. If you go to a self serve lunch counter or a 7-11 and pick up a sandwich, it will most certainly have mayo and may also have mustard. When I am at a meeting and someone brings in sandwiches, if I am really hungry I will have to choke down a sandwich slathered in mayo or mustard.

Why those two. There must be 100s of condiments we could routinely add to our food. Heinz alone has 57 sauces. Go to a supermarket or specialty store and look at what's available in the sauces category and there may be 100s of distinct sauces to flavour your sandwich. Why has our society chosen those two sauces. Better still, why does our society insist on putting any sauce on a sandwich when it is so much easier to allow people to actually make a choice.