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Salad Dressing

A vinaigrette made by boiling mustard, vinegar, eggs, pepper, salt, butter or cream, then adding sugar and whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hatfield (Mass.). Congregational Church · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Salad Dressing

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

  1. Combine two and a half teaspoons mustard, one cup vinegar, three eggs, little pepper and salt, and boil together with a cup of butter or cream.

  2. When cold, add one-third cup of sugar.

  3. Just before serving, whip half cup cream and stir into dressing.

  4. Beat one egg thoroughly, add one teaspoon mustard, one tablespoon sugar, butter the size of a walnut, one-half cup vinegar, mix thoroughly and cook a little.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

286Calories
7 gProtein
22 gFat
14 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Hatfield (Mass.). Congregational Church. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Thicken the dressing as they cook, giving it a creamy, body-rich texture.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the sweetness and richness.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar and mustard.
Cream
Adds fat and richness, and whipped cream lightens the finished dressing.
Mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavour that cuts through the richness of the eggs and fat.

The step that matters

Boiling the egg mixture. Eggs thicken when heated but can curdle or scramble if overheated. Cook gently and stir constantly so the dressing becomes smooth and thick rather than lumpy.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, cream, sugar, butter, egg):

  1. Mustardthe original
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Cucumberfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, cream, sugar, butter, egg. 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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