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2. Mayonnaise Dressing.

A cold egg yolk-based dressing made with mustard, salt, sugar, cayenne, lemon juice, vinegar, and olive oil.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Olive and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,922 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

2. Mayonnaise Dressing.

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mayonnaise

  1. Stir together the eggs, mustard, salt, pepper, and sugar.

  2. Add the oil, a drop at a time, stirring and beating constantly.

  3. Use the back of a silver fork (or a Dover beater) to mix the mayonnaise.

  4. When the dressing becomes very thick, thin it occasionally with vinegar and lemon, alternately, but never let it lose its consistency.

  5. After the initial slow addition, the oil may be added more rapidly.

Keep it cold and rescue it

  1. Keep all ingredients and utensils cold.

  2. If the weather is warm, surround the bowl with ice water.

  3. If the dressing separates, begin with another yolk of egg and stir the separated mixture into it slowly, as before.

  4. Set the bowl in a cold place and it should keep for many days.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

267Calories
7 gProtein
19 gFat
18 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
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 Helen Kinne and Anna M. Cooley. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Vinegar + olivetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,297 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  3. Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

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

  5. Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

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

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
Egg yolks emulsify the oil and vinegar, giving the dressing its body and structure.
Olive oil
Supplies the fat that, dispersed in droplets, thickens the sauce into a rich emulsion.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the richness and helps thin the dressing as it thickens.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity and brightness, thinning the dressing and balancing the oil.
Mustard (in the method)
Acts as an additional emulsifier that helps hold the oil and water phases together.

The step that matters

Adding the oil slowly at the start. Oil must be added a drop at a time while beating constantly, so tiny droplets form and are coated by egg yolk. Adding it too fast breaks the emulsion and the dressing separates.

Swap the lemon

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

  1. Lemonthe original
  2. Vanillafits about as well
  3. Cherryfits about as well
  4. Figfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, olive, sugar, 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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