Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Dissolve the mustard in a little hot water.
Add the eggs, vinegar, and sugar, and cook until it thickens.
Finish the dressing
Remove from heat and stir in the butter.
Once cool, add the milk and mix 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.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vinegar + sugartop 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken when gently cooked, giving the dressing its body and structure.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the dressing its sharp, tangy flavour.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity with sweetness.
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches the texture and mellows the sharpness.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and creaminess, loosening the thickened base.
- Mustard
- Contributes sharp flavour and helps bind the dressing together.
The step that matters
Cook the egg mixture until it thickens. Egg proteins set as they heat, so the mixture thickens. If it gets too hot or cooks too fast, the eggs can curdle or scramble, so gentle, steady heat and constant stirring are needed.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vinegar, sugar, butter, milk):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, vinegar, sugar, butter, milk. 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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