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 ↓
A Nice Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, mash the hot egg yolks with the vinegar.
Add the mustard, sugar, salt, cream, and mix well.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Mustard + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,424 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Provide richness and emulsifying fat that thickens the dressing into a smooth, creamy texture.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp flavor and helps stabilize the emulsion so the dressing stays smooth.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the yolks.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and body, loosening the mixture into a smooth, pourable dressing.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that rounds out the sharpness of the vinegar and mustard.
The step that matters
Mashing the hot egg yolks with the vinegar. Yolks mashed while still warm blend more smoothly into the vinegar, and the yolk proteins and fats help bind the dressing. Mixing in the mustard and cream afterward builds an emulsion that stays creamy rather than separating or turning grainy.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, cream, vinegar):
- Mustardthe original
- Cucumberfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Horseradishfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, cream, 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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