Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
In a saucepan, combine vinegar, egg yolks, and salt.
Place on the stove over low heat.
Stir constantly until the mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and stir in the butter until melted.
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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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,513 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Vinegar + eggtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,922 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Vinegar and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,922 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
- Thicken the dressing as they heat and set, creating a creamy, emulsified texture.
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that gives the dressing its tangy flavour and balances the richness.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, smoothing the dressing and softening its sharp acidity.
The step that matters
Stir constantly over low heat. Egg yolks can scramble if they get too hot or are left unstirred. Gentle, constant stirring heats them evenly so they thicken smoothly rather than curdling.
“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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