Why it works: Mustard and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 859 recipes mention both. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Tartar Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
Slowly heat the mixture over low heat.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Mustard + shallottop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together859 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Mustard + parsleytop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,588 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mayonnaise
- Provides the fat and creamy base that gives the sauce its body and moisture.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp tang and helps hold the emulsified sauce together.
- Shallot
- Adds a mild, sharp onion-like aroma and bite.
The step that matters
Slowly heat the mixture over low heat.. Mayonnaise is an emulsion of oil and egg. Strong or fast heat can cause the egg proteins to tighten and the oil to separate, leaving the sauce greasy and grainy. Gentle, slow heating keeps it smooth.
Flavor stand-ins for the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, shallot):
- Capersbetter flavor fit
- Tarragonbetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, shallot. 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.
More tartar sauce recipes
You might also like
Chicken Salad623 recipes
Salad Dressing491 recipes
Tomato Salad179 recipes
Cold Slaw160 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.