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 ↓
Sauce Mayonaise
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mayonnaise
In a bowl, combine the yolks of two raw eggs and 1½ teaspoons of mixed mustard.
Slowly add 1 cup of salad oil while stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and can be reversed without spilling.
Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and ½ teaspoon of salt, then stir briskly until the sauce is light in color.
Serve
Serve on lobster, lettuce, or fish.
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.
-
Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Egg + mustardtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,210 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + vinegartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,922 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and vinegar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,922 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
- Egg yolks
- Emulsifiers that hold the oil and vinegar together as a thick, stable sauce.
- Salad oil
- Supplies the fat that, dispersed into droplets, gives mayonnaise its rich body.
- Mixed mustard
- Helps stabilise the emulsion and adds sharpness that balances the richness.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and helps set the emulsion.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly while stirring constantly. Oil must be dispersed into tiny droplets among the yolk proteins. Adding it too fast overwhelms the yolks, so the emulsion breaks and the sauce turns thin and oily.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vinegar, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardthe original
- Cucumberfits about as well
- Cabbagefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, vinegar, pepper. 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.
More mayonnaise recipes
You might also like
Chicken Salad623 recipes
Salad Dressing491 recipes
Tomato Salad179 recipes
Cold Slaw160 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.