Why it works: Onion and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 29,779 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Tartar Sauce— Hot
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the onion in the vinegar for a few minutes.
Add the butter and egg yolks, then beat until thick, about 1 minute.
Remove from heat and gradually beat in the olive oil.
Add salt, cayenne, and minced pickled gherkin to taste.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Onion + olivetop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together29,779 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Vinegar + olivetop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together12,297 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Vinegar + oniontop 14% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together18,226 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + olivetop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together11,887 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify the oil and butter and thicken the sauce as they set gently with heat.
- Olive oil
- Provides the fat that, emulsified with the yolks, gives the sauce its rich body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the yolks form a smooth, thick base.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and cuts the richness of the fat.
The step that matters
Remove from heat and gradually beat in the olive oil.. Adding oil too fast or while the pan is still hot can break the emulsion, so the sauce separates and turns greasy instead of thick and smooth.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, butter, olive, egg):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Cucumberbetter flavor fit
- Chivebetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, butter, olive, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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