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 Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
Take the yolks of two raw eggs, beat with them one teaspoon of made mustard.
Mix the mustard with water, not vinegar.
Add olive oil drop by drop, stirring constantly until the mixture becomes very thick.
Add two teaspoons of powdered sugar and a scant teaspoon of salt. Mix thoroughly.
Squeeze in the juice of one lemon.
Beat well; if too thick, thin with a little sweet cream.
Vary and serve
If preferred, omit the lemon and cream, and use vinegar.
For chicken salad, add yolks of hard boiled eggs to make it richer.
Garnish lettuce with nasturtium blossoms.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mustard + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,816 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Raw egg yolks
- Emulsify the oil and water into a thick, stable dressing.
- Made mustard
- Helps hold the oil and liquid together in the emulsion.
- Olive oil (in the method)
- Provides fat and body, thickening the dressing as it is added slowly.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and dissolves easily into the dressing.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the dressing.
The step that matters
Adding the oil drop by drop. Oil added too quickly cannot be absorbed by the egg yolk and mustard, so the emulsion breaks and the dressing turns greasy and thin instead of thick.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, sugar, egg, vinegar):
- Lemonthe original
- Cherryfits about as well
- Vanillafits about as well
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, sugar, 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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