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 ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar, corn starch, mustard, and butter.
Beat the mixture well until smooth.
Cook and finish
Heat the mixture in a saucepan until it comes to a boil.
Remove from heat and stir in the beaten egg whites.
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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + mustardtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together463 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (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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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken as they heat and add richness to the dressing.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the mixture as it heats and reaches a boil.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Mustard
- Adds a sharp, savoury flavour.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the dressing its tang.
- Egg whites
- Stirred in at the end to lighten the texture of the dressing.
The step that matters
Bringing the mixture to a boil. Corn starch needs to reach a boil to thicken fully, but egg yolks can scramble if the mixture overheats, so watch the pan closely and keep the heat controlled.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, corn, butter, vinegar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Sweet potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, corn, butter, 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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