Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Mayonnaise
Ingredients
Directions
Make the emulsion
In a bowl, combine the egg yolks and dry mustard.
Slowly stir in the olive oil drop by drop to start.
Once a third of the oil is added, mix in the salt.
Continue adding oil and alternating with lemon juice or vinegar until the mixture thickens.
Finish
Finish with powdered sugar and cayenne pepper.
The mayonnaise should be thick enough to spread over salad.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,922 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Mustard + olivetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,950 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,816 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Their lecithin emulsifies the oil and water so the sauce stays thick instead of separating.
- Olive oil
- Forms the bulk of the sauce, providing richness and body once dispersed into droplets.
- Lemon juice or vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens flavour and helps stabilise the emulsion.
- Dry mustard
- Contains natural emulsifiers that help bind the oil and yolks together.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly at the start. Oil must be dispersed into tiny droplets around the yolk before more is added. Pouring too fast overwhelms the yolk, so the emulsion breaks and the sauce stays runny or separates.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, olive, lemon, sugar, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, olive, lemon, sugar, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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