Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Mayonnaise
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
In a saucepan, combine vinegar, beaten egg, mustard, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
Boil the mixture until it thickens, then cool partially.
Finish
Stir in cream, butter, and the yolks of hard-boiled eggs until well combined.
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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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beaten egg
- Thickens and emulsifies the mixture as it cooks, giving the sauce body.
- Hard-boiled egg yolks
- Add richness and a smooth, creamy texture to the finished sauce.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a rich mouthfeel and smooth texture.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the sauce's texture.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and balances the richness.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture until it thickens. The beaten egg must thicken gently over heat. Overheating can scramble the egg proteins into curds, so the mixture should be stirred and watched closely while it thickens.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, egg, pepper, cream, butter):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Spinachfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, egg, pepper, cream, butter. 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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