Why it works: Olive and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,458 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the yolk base
Break the yolks of the eggs into a bowl and beat until light.
Slowly add the olive oil, drop by drop.
Make the potato paste
Boil the potato until tender.
Mash the hot potato with the butter and pass through a sieve.
Mix the mustard, sugar, cayenne pepper, salt, and vinegar into the potato paste.
Combine
Combine the potato mixture with the beaten yolks and olive oil.
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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Olive + potatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,458 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Potato + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,340 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Olive + mustardtop 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks emulsify the oil and vinegar, giving the dressing its thick, creamy body.
- Olive oil
- Provides fat that, emulsified into the yolks, gives the dressing its rich texture.
- Potato
- Mashed smooth, it thickens the dressing and adds body without much flavour.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the mashed potato base.
- Vinegar
- Supplies acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the fat.
- Mustard
- Its natural emulsifiers help hold the oil and vinegar together and add sharpness.
The step that matters
Slowly add the olive oil, drop by drop. Oil must be added very gradually to the beaten yolks so the droplets are coated and suspended. Adding it too fast breaks the emulsion, leaving the dressing oily and separated.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, olive, butter, mustard, sugar, pepper, vinegar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, olive, butter, mustard, sugar, pepper, vinegar. 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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