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Sauce

Salad Dressing

A cooked dressing of beaten eggs, mustard, sugar, butter, vinegar and water, thickened over heat.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Ramblers' club, Minneapolis. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Salad Dressing

Why it works: Orange and walnut are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Salad Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mix mustard, sugar and salt together.

  2. Add the well beaten eggs, melted butter, vinegar and water.

  3. Place over the fire, stir constantly and cook until thick.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

169Calories
8 gProtein
8 gFat
16 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
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 Ramblers' club, Minneapolis. [from old catalog]. 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. Orange + walnuttop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  2. Orange + vinegartop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,245 recipes

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

  3. Walnut + vinegartop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,769 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  4. Egg + walnuttop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + orangetop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together10,696 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Egg and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,696 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

Eggs
Their proteins set as they heat, thickening the dressing into a creamy body.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat, giving the dressing richness and a smoother mouthfeel.
Vinegar
Adds acidity, balancing the sweetness of the sugar and the richness of the eggs and butter.

The step that matters

Cook until thick while stirring constantly. Egg proteins set gradually as they heat. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly and keeps the eggs from curdling or scrambling on the bottom of the pan.

Swap the orange

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

  1. Figfits better
  2. Cherryfits better
  3. Avocadofits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, walnut, 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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