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 ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the yolks of 3 eggs hard and pass them through a fine sieve.
Add the yolks of 2 raw eggs and stir until smooth.
Slowly add the oil while stirring.
Season with red pepper, coarse sea salt, vinegar, and lemon juice.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Vinegar + lemontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,334 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Egg + vinegartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,922 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify the oil and thicken the dressing into a smooth, creamy texture.
- Oil
- Provides fat and richness, forming the body of the emulsified dressing.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the richness of the oil.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and fresh citrus flavor that balances the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Slowly add the oil while stirring. Egg yolks can only hold oil droplets in suspension if the oil is added gradually. Adding it too fast breaks the emulsion, so the dressing separates and turns greasy instead of thick and smooth.
“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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