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 Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chill all ingredients thoroughly.
Make the dressing
In a bowl, combine egg yolks, lemon juice, vinegar, cayenne, and beat until blended.
Slowly add oil, a few drops at a time, while continuously beating.
Alternate adding oil with lemon juice and vinegar until fully incorporated.
Fold in whipped cream before serving.
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.
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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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Lemon + vinegartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,334 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Pepper + creamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together21,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Lemon and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsifiers that hold the oil and liquid together as a smooth, thick dressing.
- Oil
- Provides the fat that, dispersed into the yolks, builds the body of the dressing.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps stabilize the emulsion.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that balances the richness of the oil and yolks.
- Thick sweet cream
- Adds richness and a lighter, airy texture when folded in at the end.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly. Oil must be added a few drops at a time while beating, so it disperses into tiny droplets surrounded by egg yolk. Adding it too fast overwhelms the yolks, and the emulsion breaks into a greasy, separated liquid.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, pepper, cream, egg):
- Lemonthe original
- Strawberryfits about as well
- Limefits less well
- Cherryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, pepper, cream, egg. 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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