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
Make the dressing
In a deep bowl, combine the egg yolks, mustard, salt, cayenne pepper, and white pepper.
Stir continuously in one direction with a large fork or spoon.
Slowly pour in the olive oil while stirring until it begins to thicken.
Add lemon juice or vinegar quickly once it starts to bind.
Continue stirring until all the oil, lemon juice, and vinegar are incorporated.
Chill and fix
Chill the dressing on ice before serving.
If the dressing breaks, add another egg yolk and stir while holding back the oil for a minute.
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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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 yolks
- Emulsify the oil and water-based liquids, giving the dressing its thick, creamy body.
- Olive oil
- Provides the fat that is suspended in droplets, adding richness and body to the dressing.
- Mustard
- Helps stabilise the emulsion so the oil and liquids stay combined.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and brightness that balances the richness of the oil and yolks.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity and sharpness that balances the richness of the oil and yolks.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly. Egg yolks can only hold oil in fine droplets when it is added gradually while stirring. Pouring too fast overwhelms the yolks, so the emulsion breaks and the dressing separates.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, mustard, pepper, olive, lemon, vinegar):
- Tarragonfits better
- Dillfits better
- Capersfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, mustard, pepper, olive, lemon, vinegar. 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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