Name: French Salad Dressing
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons vinegar; 6 tablespoons oil; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt; a pinch of black pepper

Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

French Salad Dressing

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vinegar
6 tablespoons oil
¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
a pinch of black pepper

Directions

In a bowl, combine the vinegar and oil.
Add the coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Whisk together until well mixed.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Vinegar: Provides acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil.
Oil: Carries fat and flavor and gives the dressing its smooth, coating body.

“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.