Skip to main content
Main

Sandwich Dressing

A dressing made with egg yolks, corn starch, mustard, sugar, butter, red pepper, vinegar, and cream, suitable for chopped ham.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Mustard and vinegar 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 ↓

Sandwich Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Beat the egg yolks, corn starch, mustard, sugar, butter, and red pepper together.

  2. Add the vinegar and boil the mixture.

  3. Let it cool, then stir in the cream.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Thicken the dressing and add richness as they set with gentle heat.
Corn starch
Thickens the liquid into a smooth, spreadable dressing when it boils.
Vinegar
Adds the sharp acidity that gives the dressing its tang.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, richer mouthfeel.
Cream
Adds richness and softens the sharpness of the vinegar.

The step that matters

Boil the mixture after adding the vinegar. Corn starch only thickens fully once it reaches a boil, so the dressing stays thin if it is not brought up to boiling. Egg yolks can curdle if overheated, so keep the heat controlled while stirring.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, corn, sugar, butter, pepper, vinegar, cream):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits about as well
  3. Mustardthe original
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, corn, sugar, butter, pepper, vinegar, cream. 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.

More sandwich dressing recipes

Ham 5 See all 14 →

You might also like

Corn FrittersCorn Fritters203 recipesCream of Corn SoupCream of Corn Soup50 recipesGreen Corn SoupGreen Corn Soup46 recipesCornmeal GruelCornmeal Gruel41 recipes