Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
A Swiss Mayonnaise
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Beat half a pound of butter into a cream.
Add the butter gradually to the hard-boiled yolks of six fresh eggs cut into quarters, separated from the whites, and pound to a paste.
When blended into a smooth sauce, add a few drops at a time of salad oil, working the mixture as in mayonnaise.
Add a small quantity of salt and sufficient vinegar in small portions to give acidity.
Optionally substitute fresh lemon juice for vinegar and add a little cayenne.
Build the pyramid
Carve two delicate boiled fowls and trim the joints into handsome form.
Lay the inferior parts on a large plate and spread a thick portion of sauce over them.
Arrange the coated parts in a flat layer in the dish.
Sauce more joints and arrange them symmetrically over the others.
Build a pyramid with the whole.
Decorate the pyramid with egg whites and hearts of small lettuces cut in halves.
Place the lettuce and egg whites around the base alternately with whole bantams or plovers eggs boiled hard, cutting a small slice from the large end of each to allow upright placement.
Stick a slight branch of parsley or other foliage in the tops.
Substitute roast chickens skinless for boiled ones if desired, separating into single joints except wings.
The inferior parts need not be used.
Make the fish salad variation
Use the same sauce flavored with cayenne, other condiments, anchovy essence, and colored with lobster-coral to make a fish salad with alternate slices of lobster and cold turbot or large soles.
Arrange the fish slices into a high border or chain around a dish, filling the center with young fresh salad and sauce it immediately before serving.
Notes
Keep the French mayonnaise very thick.
Mix a little rich cold white sauce with it sometimes.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Eggs | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
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.
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.
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Butter
- Creamed to form the rich base that the sauce is built on.
- Eggs
- Hard-boiled yolks, pounded with butter, form the emulsifying base of the sauce.
- Salad oil
- Added drop by drop to lengthen the emulsion and give the sauce body.
- Vinegar (in the method)
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the richness of the sauce.
- Boiled fowls
- Main meat, coated with sauce and arranged into the pyramid.
The step that matters
Adding the oil. Oil must go in a few drops at a time into the smooth butter and yolk base. Adding it too fast can break the emulsion, leaving the sauce greasy and thin rather than thick and smooth.
“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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