Why it works: Lemon and pepper 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 Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Start the emulsion
In a bowl, mix together salt, lemon juice, mustard, sugar, and vinegar.
Slowly add the olive oil, one drop at a time, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or whisk.
After about 10 minutes, when the mixture thickens, add a little vinegar or lemon juice.
Finish the dressing
Continue adding oil and acids until all are used, resulting in a thick, smooth cream.
Stir in the cream at the end.
If the dressing breaks, beat it with an egg beater or add more egg and stir without adding oil.
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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Lemon + peppertop 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 yolk
- Its lecithin helps hold the oil and the acidic liquids together as a stable emulsion.
- Olive oil
- Supplies the fat that gives the dressing its thick, rich body and smooth texture.
- Mustard
- Its natural emulsifiers help keep the oil and water-based liquids from separating.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness of the oil.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness of the oil.
- Thick cream
- Adds extra body and a softer, creamier mouthfeel to the finished dressing.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly. Oil must be dispersed into the yolk and acid mixture in very small amounts while stirring constantly. If the oil goes in too quickly, the droplets cannot be held in suspension and the emulsion breaks, leaving a greasy, separated mixture.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, sugar, vinegar, pepper, egg, cream, olive):
- Lemonthe original
- Avocadofits about as well
- Cherryfits about as well
- Limefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, sugar, vinegar, pepper, egg, cream, 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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