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 ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
In a double boiler, combine cream, eggs, vinegar, melted butter, salt, and sugar.
Cook over simmering water, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens, being careful not to let it curdle.
Once thickened, remove from heat and let cool.
Store
Bottle the dressing and store it in a cool place.
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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Cream + buttertop 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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Eggs
- Their proteins set as they heat, thickening the dressing into a creamy emulsion.
- Cream
- Adds richness and body, giving the dressing a smooth, mellow texture.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat that enriches the dressing and gives it a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
- Vinegar
- Supplies acidity that gives the dressing its sharp, tangy flavour.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity with a touch of sweetness.
The step that matters
Cooking over simmering water until thickened. Egg proteins set gradually as they heat. If the mixture gets too hot or is not stirred constantly, the eggs can scramble and curdle, leaving a grainy dressing instead of a smooth, thick one.
Swap the mustard
The recipe marks mustard as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, egg, vinegar, butter, sugar, pepper):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, egg, vinegar, butter, sugar, 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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