Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the egg yolks until light.
Mix salt, mustard, and sugar; add to the egg yolks.
Gradually beat in the butter.
Slowly add the vinegar while mixing.
Combine corn starch with milk and add to the mixture.
Heat on the stove until it comes to a boil.
Stir in a dash of red pepper.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 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
- Emulsify with the butter and thicken the dressing as they set with heat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, helping form a smooth emulsion with the yolks.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor of the dressing.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the mixture when heated with the milk.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and body, mixed with the corn starch to thicken.
The step that matters
Heat on the stove until it comes to a boil. Corn starch only thickens fully once it reaches a boil, so stopping early leaves the dressing thin. Heat must be watched, since the egg yolks can scramble if the dressing gets too hot too fast.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, vinegar, corn, milk, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, vinegar, corn, milk, 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.
More salad dressing recipes
You might also like
Chicken Salad623 recipes
Tomato Salad179 recipes
Cold Slaw160 recipes
French Dressing58 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.