Why it works: Olive and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,297 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓
French Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
In a bowl, combine salt and black pepper.
Gradually stir in the olive oil.
Slowly add the vinegar while mixing thoroughly.
Serve
Use this dressing on a plain lettuce salad, watercress, endive, or nasturtium blossoms just before serving.
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.
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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Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,297 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,263 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pepper + vinegartop 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
- Olive oil
- Forms the body of the dressing and carries flavour, adding richness and mouthfeel.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil.
- Salt
- Seasons the dressing and enhances the flavour of the other ingredients.
The step that matters
Slowly add the vinegar while mixing thoroughly. Oil and vinegar are immiscible, so adding vinegar slowly while mixing breaks it into small droplets that stay suspended longer. Dumping it in at once lets the two separate quickly, leaving an uneven dressing.
“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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