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
Combine vinegar, butter, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Beat mustard, salt, egg, and milk together in a separate bowl.
Add the beaten mixture to the vinegar mixture once it has cooled slightly.
Return to heat and boil until thickened to the consistency of cream.
Add table oil to taste.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Thickens the dressing as it cooks and gives it a creamy body.
- Vinegar
- Provides the sharp acidity that gives the dressing its tang.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity with sweetness.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softens the dressing's flavour and texture.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp flavour and helps emulsify the dressing.
The step that matters
Adding the beaten mixture to the hot vinegar. If the vinegar is still too hot, the egg can scramble instead of thickening smoothly. Letting it cool slightly first keeps the dressing smooth as it returns to heat.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, butter, sugar, egg, milk):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, butter, sugar, egg, milk. 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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