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The 5e Alchemy Jug (on page 150 of the Dungeon Master's Guide) has several uses. Some are common and useful, like water, poison, acid. Some are natural ingredients and liquids, like honey, vinegar, oil. Some are alcoholic beverages, like wine or beer.

And then there's Mayonnaise. It is a complex condiment (requires, among other things, mustard, which is another complex condiment).

Why? What's the point? I figured maybe it was there as an example of what the jug could create, but the rules explicitly say to name one liquid from the table below. Is there some use of mayonnaise that is relevant for the game? Or were the devs just having a laugh?

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2  
According to Wikipedia, In countries influenced by French culture, mustard is also a common ingredient; it's not a necessary component, but rather a common seasoning. – Samthere 17 hours ago
up vote 58 down vote accepted

Funnily enough, Christopher Perkins goes into exactly this topic during his 'Storytime'1 speech at PAX South 2017.

Summary: Being exhausted and angry about broken air conditioning at WOTC led to them making up a list of silly liquids for the Alchemy Jug. Mayonnaise eventually was the only survivor of said list (while many others were too inappropriate to keep) because they wanted to eventually hear the hilarious stories of how covering someone in mayonnaise achieved a goal.

1: In case VOD link does not start at the proper time, the relevant part starts at 31m58s.

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up vote 8 down vote

Mayonnaise fits in with honey, vinegar, and oil, which are condiments as well as ingredients for cooking. You have beverages, condiments, ingredients, and other useful liquids all in one easy to carry package.

You say mayo is complex, but it isn't any more complex than beer: a water extract of roasted, sprouted barley, boiled, infused with hops, exposed to yeast, and fermented for at least a week, most likely several weeks. Compare to oil, vinegar, salt, and a little water (three of which are available as separate jug products), for the simplest form of mayonnaise (emulsifier helps, but could be a just trace of lecithin). The mustard is optional, but a trace of allyl isothyocyanate will give the flavor -- that means simple mayonnaise contains 6 chemical substances, while hops alone contain hundreds.

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5  
I don't have enough to contribute a wholly separate answer, but mayonnaise has many potential non-food-related uses, too. It's quite a versatile non-Newtonian fluid and a clever adventurer could probably come up with many different uses for an unlimited supply of mayonnaise in a dungeon. Plus, if worse comes to worst, you've got an unlimited supply of essential fats and proteins -- you may get sick of it after a while, but you won't be starving to death. – LegendaryDude 19 hours ago
9  
Well, you will starve to death, but it'll be from malnutrition, not simple lack of calories. Takes 3-4 times as long. – Zeiss Ikon 19 hours ago
6  
Oh god... A Diet of only mayo until I starve to death from malnutrition. I think I'll just eat my sword. – Sidney 14 hours ago
9  
@Sidney Hey, you know what would make that sword taste better? A little mayo. – Schilcote 12 hours ago
1  
Except that beer is at least 6000 years old and spans the quasi-medieval setting of D&D at least. Mayo at about 150 years old doesn't. – Dale M 10 hours ago

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