Why it works: Mustard and vinegar 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 ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the egg mixture
Beat the eggs very light.
Add the vinegar and beat more.
Dissolve the mustard in the hot water.
Add the dissolved mustard to the egg mixture.
Cook the dressing
Mix the dry ingredients and add them to the mixture.
Heat the mixture well.
Set the mixture in a double boiler with about 1½ cups hot water.
Stir constantly until thickened.
Remove from heat.
Finish and cool
Stir in the butter.
Let the dressing cool.
Stir in sweet cream to thin the dressing.
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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mustard + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Eggs
- Their proteins set when heated, thickening the dressing and giving it body.
- Flour
- Its starch swells with heat, helping thicken and stabilize the dressing.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the dressing its tangy, sharp flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the sharpness of the vinegar and mustard.
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches the flavor and smooths the texture.
- Mustard
- Adds pungent flavor that sharpens the dressing.
The step that matters
Stir constantly until thickened. Egg proteins can curdle or scramble if the mixture overheats or sits still. Constant stirring over gentle heat in the double boiler keeps the heat even so the custard-like base thickens smoothly.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, vinegar, butter, flour):
- Shallotfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Chivefits about as well
- Cucumberfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, vinegar, butter, 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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