A vegetable oil butter substitute. Cream or milk is often added to make it taste more like butter. Regular margarine contains at least 80% fat. Diet margarines contain about 40% fat. Whipped margarine has up to 50% air beaten into it.
Mayonnaise
A thick, creamy emulsion of vegetable oil, egg yolks, and seasonings. This product is called "salad dressing" if no eggs are used. Commercial mayonnaise must contain at least 65% oil by weight. Mayonnaise is of French origin.
Melting Point
The melting point is the temperature at which the change of state from solid to liquid occurs. With pure glycerides this is a clearly defined point, but since fats are mixtures of a number of glycerides (each having a different melting point) melting appears to occur over a wider range of temperature.
Monounsaturated
A fatty acid in which the hydrocarbon chain is not fully saturated with hydrogen; two hydrogen atoms are missing.
N
Neutralising
The stage in the refining process in which all free fatty acids in crude oils are removed by alkalis.
