Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Oil Mayonnaise Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
In a small bowl, mix mustard, powdered sugar, salt, and cayenne pepper.
Add the egg yolk and beat with an egg beater.
Gradually add the olive oil, starting with a few drops, while beating constantly.
As the mixture thickens, thin it with vinegar or lemon juice.
Continue to alternate adding oil and vinegar or lemon juice until all ingredients are used, beating constantly.
Keep and rescue
If the oil is added too quickly, the dressing may curdle; it should be jelly-like.
Keep the dressing very cold.
If the dressing separates, slowly pour it onto a new egg yolk and beat well.
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.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,922 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Mustard + olivetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,950 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolk
- Lecithin in the yolk emulsifies the oil into droplets, letting the dressing thicken and hold together.
- Olive oil
- Supplies the fat that, dispersed in droplets, gives the dressing its rich, thick body.
- Mustard
- Its natural emulsifiers help stabilise the emulsion and add sharpness.
- Vinegar
- Thins the thickening emulsion and adds acidity that balances the rich oil.
- Lemon juice
- Thins the thickening emulsion and adds acidity that balances the rich oil.
The step that matters
Adding the oil. Oil must go in slowly, a few drops at first, while beating constantly. Added too fast, the droplets cannot be absorbed by the yolk, so the emulsion breaks and the dressing curdles or separates.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, pepper, egg, olive, vinegar, lemon):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardthe original
- Cucumberfits about as well
- Spinachfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, pepper, egg, olive, vinegar, lemon. 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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