Why it works: Lemon and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Oil Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the yolks
Add ½ teaspoon salt and a pinch of white pepper to 2 yolks (one cooked and one raw).
Beat the raw yolk lightly, then add the mashed cooked yolk.
Make the dressing
Add 1 cup oil, ½ teaspoon mustard, juice of 1 lemon, and a little onion juice.
Add oil gradually, a little lemon juice at a time.
Finish
Season and keep in a cool place.
Add a hard‑boiled egg yolk and whipped cream.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
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.
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Lemon and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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
- Oil
- Forms the bulk of the dressing, giving it richness and a smooth, thick body.
- Egg yolks
- Act as the emulsifier, holding the oil and lemon juice together as a stable sauce.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Add oil gradually, a little lemon juice at a time. Egg yolk lecithin can only coat small oil droplets if the oil goes in slowly. Adding too much oil at once overwhelms the yolk, and the emulsion breaks and separates. Alternating with lemon juice keeps the mixture thin enough to take up more oil.
“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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