Why it works: Vinegar and mustard 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 ↓
Cream Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
Beat the eggs in a bowl.
Add cream, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, ground mustard, and flour; mix well.
Heat the mixture slowly until just boiling.
Serve
Pour the hot dressing over chopped cabbage.
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.
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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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Mustard + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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 and set, giving it body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, creamy texture to the dressing.
- Vinegar
- Provides the sharp acidity that balances the sugar and richness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dressing to balance the vinegar's tartness.
- Flour
- Stabilises the dressing and helps it thicken without splitting.
The step that matters
Heat the mixture slowly until just boiling. Eggs thicken as they heat, but high heat or overcooking can curdle them. Heating gently and stopping at just boiling keeps the dressing smooth and thick.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cream, vinegar, sugar, pepper, flour):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Horseradishfits about as well
- Spinachfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cream, vinegar, sugar, pepper, flour. 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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