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The Dewey Cook Book

A thick cream-like dressing made with dry ingredients, egg, vinegar, and milk, cooked in a double boiler.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Young Men's Christian Association (Montpelier, Vt.). Women of the Auxiliary · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,067 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

The Dewey Cook Book

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mix the dry ingredients together.

  2. Stir in the egg.

  3. Very slowly stir in the vinegar.

  4. Add the milk just before cooking.

Cook and finish

  1. Cook in a double boiler until the consistency of thick cream.

  2. Strain if necessary.

By Young Men's Christian Association (Montpelier, Vt.). Women of the Auxiliary. 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.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together20,806 recipes

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

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together88,785 recipes

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

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together77,875 recipes

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

  5. Sugar + mustardtop 19% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together8,424 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Milk and sugar share little aroma chemistry, yet 77,875 recipes mention both: they likely 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 set during cooking and add richness.
Milk
Forms the base of the dressing and adds richness and body.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the dressing its sharp, tangy flavor.
Oil
Adds fat that gives the dressing a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
Sugar
Balances the acidity of the vinegar with sweetness.

The step that matters

Cook in a double boiler until the consistency of thick cream.. Egg proteins set gently as they heat. Too much heat or a direct flame can scramble the eggs and curdle the dressing, so gentle, indirect heat is needed to reach a smooth, thick texture.

Flavor stand-ins for the mustard

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

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Cucumberabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Sweet potatoabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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