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Salad Dressing

A vinaigrette-style dressing thickened with eggs, flour, and butter, flavored with vinegar, mustard, salt, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Ithaca (N.Y.) First Baptist Church. Ladies Union · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 26 ingredients
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Salad Dressing

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Salad Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Add one cup of vinegar; if strong, add a little water.

  2. Beat 3 eggs well.

  3. Add butter the size of an egg.

  4. Add 1 teaspoon of mustard.

  5. Add 1 teaspoon of salt.

  6. Add a little pepper.

  7. Add 1 teaspoon of comstaroh.

  8. Add 3 teaspoons of sugar.

  9. Cook until it thickens, stirring to avoid lumps.

  10. Put a piece of butter the size of an egg in a stewpan. When melted, add 1 tablespoon of flour and stir well.

  11. Add 1 cup of milk or water and let it come to a boil.

Make the cooked dressing

  1. In a separate bowl, mix 3 well beaten eggs with 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 cup of vinegar, salt, pepper (a pinch of red if desired).

  2. Boil the mixture for a moment.

  3. If lumpy, strain it.

  4. Serve with fruit, vegetables, or meat.

  5. If for fruit, it should be a bit sweeter than for the others.

Make the yolk dressing

  1. Separate yolks of 3 eggs.

  2. Mix yolks with 5 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of mustard, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and butter the size of a hickory nut. Add sweet cream to thin. Stir until it thickens.

  3. Place a standing dish in a vessel of boiling water or use a double boiler. Add butter after removing from fire.

  4. When ready to serve, thin with sweet cream.

Make the double-boiler dressing

  1. Combine a small tablespoon of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of mustard, 3 eggs, and 4 tablespoons of vinegar. Cook together in a double boiler until it thickens.

  2. After taking from the stove, add butter the size of an egg. Thin to proper consistency with sweet cream.

Make the boiled dressing

  1. Combine one cup of sugar, one cup of vinegar, one teaspoon of mustard, 2 tablespoons of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, and butter the size of a walnut. Boil.

  2. When ready, add cream to thin it, or milk.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

845Calories
28 gProtein
26 gFat
122 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Salt1 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.

By Ithaca (N.Y.) First Baptist Church. Ladies Union. 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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Mustard + flourtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,066 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
Thicken the dressing as they cook and add richness and body.
Flour
Thickens the liquid into a smooth, stable base when cooked.
Vinegar
Provides the sharp acidity that defines the dressing's flavour.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, velvety mouthfeel.
Milk
Adds moisture and creaminess, thinning the cooked base.

The step that matters

Cook until it thickens, stirring to avoid lumps.. Egg and starch thickeners set as they heat. Heating too fast or without stirring can curdle the eggs or cause flour and starch to clump, leaving lumps.

Swap the mustard

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, flour, milk, butter, egg, pepper. 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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