Why it works: Vinegar and mustard 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
In a double boiler, combine sugar, vinegar, white pepper, dry mustard, and salt.
Stir constantly while adding the well-beaten yolks of the eggs.
Remove from heat when the mixture thickens.
Finish and serve
Let it cool, then add the thick sweet cream just before serving.
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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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + mustardtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,424 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Vinegar + white peppertop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,154 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the dressing as they set with gentle heat, giving it a custard-like body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dressing and balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the dressing its tangy flavor.
- Thick sweet cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, creamy texture to the finished dressing.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolks while stirring. Egg yolks scramble if they get too hot too quickly. Stirring constantly while adding the beaten yolks spreads the heat evenly, so the mixture thickens smoothly instead of curdling.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, mustard, egg, cream):
- Tarragonfits better
- Capersfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, mustard, egg, cream. 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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