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 ↓
Salad Dressings
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
Beat the yolk of the raw egg in a bowl until foamy.
Slowly add the sweet oil, beating continuously until well combined.
Mix in the ground mustard, salt, and vinegar or lemon juice until thick and creamy.
Adjust flavor with more vinegar or lemon juice as desired.
Store
Store in a tightly sealed container in a cool place.
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.
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + mustardtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,210 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + vinegartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,922 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and vinegar 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 yolk
- Emulsifies the oil and vinegar, letting the dressing thicken and turn creamy.
- Sweet oil
- Provides fat that gives the dressing its smooth, rich body.
- Vinegar or lemon juice
- Adds acidity that balances the richness of the oil and egg yolk.
- Ground mustard
- Acts as an additional emulsifier that helps hold the dressing together.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly while beating. Oil must be dispersed into the egg yolk in small amounts at a time. Adding it too quickly overwhelms the yolk's emulsifying ability, so the mixture splits instead of becoming thick and creamy.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vinegar):
- Cucumberfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Shallotfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, 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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