 Grimod de La Reynière rejected the name "mayonnaise" because the word "is not French"; he rejected "mahonnaise" because Port Mahon "is not known for good food", and thus he preferred "bayonnaise", after the city of Bayonne, which "has many innovative gourmands and ... produces the best hams in Europe.Carême preferred the spelling "magnonnaise", which he derived from the French verb "manier" 'to handle'.Another suggestion is that it derives from Charles de Lorraine, duke of Mayenne, because he took the time to finish his meal of chicken with cold sauce before the Battle of Arques, in which he was defeated.