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
In a bowl, mix sugar, mustard, salt, and butter or oil until smooth.
Add the beaten eggs and stir well.
Gradually mix in the hot vinegar and milk or cream.
Cook in a double boiler, 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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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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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + eggtop 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 the dressing as they cook, giving it a creamy body.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that balances the sweetness and richness.
- Milk or cream
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the dressing's texture.
- Butter or oil
- Contributes fat, giving the dressing a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to offset the acidity of the vinegar.
The step that matters
Cook in a double boiler, stirring constantly until thickened. Eggs set when heated, but if they get too hot too quickly they can curdle or scramble. Gentle, constant stirring over indirect heat lets the eggs thicken the mixture evenly and smoothly.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, vinegar, milk):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, vinegar, 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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