Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
Mix flour, sugar, mustard, and salt in a bowl.
Add the beaten egg, vinegar, and water to the mixture and blend well.
Pour the mixture into a double boiler.
Cook while stirring constantly until it thickens.
Store and serve
Let it cool and seal for later use.
If too thick when using, thin with sweet cream.
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.
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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Egg
- Thickens the dressing as it cooks and helps bind it into a smooth emulsion.
- Flour
- Thickens the mixture as it heats, giving the dressing body.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharpness that balances the sweetness of the sugar.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dressing and balances the acidity of the vinegar.
The step that matters
Cooking while stirring constantly. Egg and flour thicken as they heat, and the egg can curdle or scramble if it gets too hot or sits still. Constant stirring over gentle heat in a double boiler keeps the mixture smooth and evenly thickened.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, egg, vinegar):
- Shallotfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Arrowrootfits about as well
- Cucumberfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, egg, vinegar. 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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