Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Mayonnaise
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mayonnaise
Beat the egg yolks until thick and yellow.
Add the salt, cayenne, melted butter, vinegar, oil, lemon juice, and mustard in that order, beating vigorously after each addition.
If the mayonnaise is not thick, place it in a cold place to thicken.
Finish and serve
Just before serving, fold in whipped cream if desired.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lemon + mustardtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,816 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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 into a stable, thick sauce.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and body while setting the sauce's flavour and texture.
- Oil
- Adds fat that thickens the emulsion and gives a smooth mouthfeel.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and helps stabilise the emulsion.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and fresh flavour that balances the rich fats.
- Mustard
- Contains natural emulsifiers that help hold the oil and water phases together.
The step that matters
Adding the fats and acids one at a time with vigorous beating. Oil and butter must be dispersed into tiny droplets within the yolk before more liquid is added. Adding too much at once, or beating too little, can break the emulsion so the sauce turns thin and oily.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, pepper, butter, vinegar, lemon, cream):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Spinachfits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, butter, vinegar, lemon, cream. 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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