Why it works: Tarragon and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,547 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Mayonnaise Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, mix the raw egg yolk and hard-boiled egg yolk together until well combined.
Slowly add the oil drop by drop while whisking continuously.
Stir in the tarragon vinegar, chutney, and meat jelly until fully incorporated.
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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Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + tarragontop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,789 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Egg + meattop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,432 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Tarragon + meattop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together184 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Vinegar + meattop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,428 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Raw egg yolk
- Emulsifies the oil into the base, giving the sauce its thick, smooth body.
- Hard-boiled egg yolk
- Adds richness and helps stabilise the emulsion with the raw yolk.
- Oil
- Forms the bulk of the sauce, providing fat that gives mayonnaise its creamy texture.
- Tarragon vinegar
- Adds acidity and sharpness that balances the richness of the oil and yolks.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly while whisking. Oil must be dispersed into tiny droplets in the yolk mixture for an emulsion to form. Adding it too fast overwhelms the yolks, and the sauce can split into a greasy, separated liquid.
“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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