Why it works: Olive and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,922 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Salad Dressings and Salads
Ingredients
Directions
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
Add to the beaten yolks.
Gradually add a few drops of olive oil while beating with an egg beater or wooden spoon.
Alternately add lemon juice and the remaining olive oil, beating steadily until fully combined.
If the dressing curdles, start with a fresh yolk and slowly add the curdled dressing, alternating with some acid.
Before using, thin the mayonnaise with thick whipped cream.
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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Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,922 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Olive + creamtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,206 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Lemon + creamtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,640 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and lemon 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
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, egg, cream):
- Avocadofits about as well
- Vanillafits about as well
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, egg, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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