Name: Cream Salad Dressing
Ingredients: 1 cup weak vinegar; 2 teaspoons flour; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 teaspoons mustard; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 egg; 2 parts whipped cream to 1 part salad dressing; 1 part salad dressing; 1 part dressing to 2 parts cream; 2 parts cream

Why it works: Vinegar and mustard 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 ↓

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.

Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,066 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Egg: Thickens the dressing as it cooks and adds richness and emulsifying power.
Flour: Thickens the cooked dressing to a smooth, stable body.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that gives the dressing its tang.
Mustard: Adds sharp flavour and helps stabilise the emulsion.
Cream: Adds richness and a smooth, light texture when mixed with the dressing.

The step that matters

Pour the mixture slowly over the beaten egg.. Adding hot liquid to egg too quickly can scramble it. Pouring slowly while whisking tempers the egg so it blends smoothly before cooking.

Swap the mustard

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

Mustardthe original
Arrowrootfits about as well
Horseradishfits about as well
Shallotfits about as well

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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Salad Dressing	not in our table	0

Cream Salad Dressing