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 ↓
Mayonnaise No. 1
Ingredients
Directions
Rub the hard-boiled egg yolk through a fine sieve until smooth.
Add the mustard, salt, pepper, and the well-beaten raw egg yolk.
Slowly add the olive oil while stirring.
Add vinegar to taste.
Finally, fold in the beaten raw egg white.
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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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).
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Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,297 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,263 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify the oil into the mixture, holding it together as a smooth, thick sauce.
- Olive oil
- Provides the fat that forms the body and richness of the sauce.
- Egg white
- Adds lightness and volume when folded in at the end.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and balances the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Slowly add the olive oil while stirring. Oil added too quickly cannot be absorbed by the egg yolk emulsifier, so the mixture can separate and fail to thicken into a stable emulsion.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, pepper, olive, vinegar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Cucumberfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, olive, vinegar. 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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