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 ↓
Mayonnaise No. 2
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Ensure all ingredients are ice-cold.
In a cup, combine salt, sugar, cayenne pepper, mustard, lemon juice, and vinegar until dissolved.
Make the mayonnaise
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with a pinch of salt until stiff.
Very slowly, add the olive oil while beating continuously.
Once enough oil is incorporated, gradually add the vinegar mixture.
If the dressing is too thin, add more oil; if too thick, add more vinegar.
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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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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Lemon + olivetop 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
- Emulsifiers that hold the oil and vinegar mixture together as a thick, stable dressing.
- Olive oil
- Supplies the fat that, dispersed in droplets, gives mayonnaise its thick, creamy body.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity for sharp flavour and helps set the emulsion's texture when balanced with oil.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright flavour that balances the richness of the oil.
- Colman's mustard
- Contains natural emulsifiers that help the oil and water-based liquids stay combined.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly while beating. Oil must be dispersed into tiny droplets before more is added; pouring too fast overwhelms the yolks, so the emulsion breaks and the mixture separates and stays runny.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, pepper, vinegar, lemon, egg, olive):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardthe original
- Cucumberfits about as well
- Spinachfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, pepper, vinegar, lemon, egg, olive. 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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