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Salad

Salad Dressing

A creamy dressing made with vinegar, flour, oil, sugar, salt, pepper, mustard, egg, and cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Salad Dressing

Why it works: Vinegar and mustard 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

Make the paste

  1. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.

  2. Gradually add a little vinegar to form a paste.

  3. Stir in the beaten egg last.

Cook and finish

  1. Cook in a double boiler until thick.

  2. Remove from heat and mix in the oil and cream.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,066 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Vinegar
Adds the sharp acidity that gives the dressing its tang.
Flour
Thickens the dressing and gives it body as it cooks.
Egg
Helps thicken the dressing as it heats and adds richness.
Mustard
Adds sharp flavour and helps hold the oil and liquids together.
Oil
Adds fat that makes the dressing smooth and rich-tasting.
Cream
Adds richness and a silky, mellow texture.

The step that matters

Cooking the egg mixture in the double boiler until thick. Egg proteins set gently with indirect, moderate heat, which thickens the dressing. If the heat is too high or the pan is left unattended, the egg can scramble and the dressing will turn grainy. Stirring constantly helps it cook evenly.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, flour, sugar, pepper, egg, cream):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Horseradishfits about as well
  4. Spinachfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, flour, sugar, pepper, egg, cream. 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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