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
Combine the beaten eggs, sugar, mustard, salt, vinegar, and melted butter in a bowl and beat all the ingredients together until well mixed.
Cook the mixture over hot water, stirring constantly until thickened.
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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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + mustardtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,424 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken as they cook, giving the dressing its body and creamy structure.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, smoothing the texture and mellowing the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that gives the dressing its tangy, sharp flavour.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity of the vinegar with a touch of sweetness.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp, savoury flavour and helps emulsify the fat into the mixture.
The step that matters
Cooking over hot water. Eggs set when heated, and if the mixture gets too hot it can scramble. Gentle heat from hot water and constant stirring keeps it smooth as it thickens.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, vinegar, butter):
- Mustardthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Cucumberfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, vinegar, butter. 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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