Why it works: Olive and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,779 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine salt, white pepper, olive oil, and onion juice.
Gradually add the remaining olive oil and vinegar, mixing well.
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 + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,779 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,297 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,226 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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White pepper + vinegartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,154 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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White pepper + oniontop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,395 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Olive oil
- Provides fat and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the dressing.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Gradually add the oil and vinegar while mixing. Adding the liquids slowly while mixing breaks the oil into tiny droplets that stay suspended in the vinegar. Adding them all at once makes the dressing separate quickly.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, vinegar):
- Garlicfits better
- Capersfits better
- Thymefits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, 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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