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Mayonnaise Dressing

A cold dressing made from egg yolks, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and optional whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

Mayonnaise Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Separate the yolks of 3 uncooked eggs. Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup vinegar, and juice of 2 lemons.

  2. Add 1 cup whipped cream and 1 pint oil or butter.

  3. Beat the yolks and dry ingredients until very light, using a silver or wooden spoon, with the bowl set in a pan of ice water.

Emulsify and finish

  1. Add a few drops of oil at a time until the dressing becomes very thick or nearly hard.

  2. Add more oil rapidly, beating hard.

  3. Add vinegar.

  4. When the oil and vinegar are fully incorporated, the dressing should be very thick.

  5. Add lemon juice and whipped cream.

  6. Place the dressing on ice for a few hours.

  7. The whipped cream may be omitted.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

263Calories
7 gProtein
24 gFat
5 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
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 Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [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.

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. Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  2. Vinegar + lemontop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,334 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Vinegar + creamtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,064 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Lemon + creamtop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,640 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

Eggs
Yolks emulsify with the oil to form a thick, stable dressing.
Oil
Forms the bulk of the dressing, giving richness and body as it emulsifies.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the richness of the oil and yolks.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity and bright flavour that cuts through the fat.
Whipped cream
Adds lightness and softness to the finished dressing.

The step that matters

Adding the oil. Oil must be added slowly at first so the yolks can absorb it and form an emulsion. Adding it too fast can break the dressing into separated oil and liquid, so it fails to thicken.

Swap the lemon

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

  1. Strawberryfits better
  2. Raspberryfits better
  3. Vanillafits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, cream, egg. 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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