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 ↓
Cold Slaw
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
In a saucepan, combine vinegar and butter and heat until melted.
Add the egg, mustard, salt, sugar, cream (or milk), flour, and red pepper.
Stir continuously until the mixture thickens.
Finish
Remove from heat and let cool before serving.
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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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Egg
- Thickens the dressing as it cooks and adds richness.
- Flour
- Helps thicken the dressing so it coats the slaw.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that balances the sugar and richness.
- Cream or milk
- Adds moisture and richness to the dressing.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the dressing.
The step that matters
Stir continuously until the mixture thickens. The egg and flour thicken the dressing as they heat. Stirring constantly keeps the egg from scrambling or curdling against the hot pan, giving a smooth, even texture.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vinegar, butter, sugar, cream, flour, pepper):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Shallotfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, vinegar, butter, sugar, cream, flour, 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.
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