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 Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
Rub the yolks of the hard boiled eggs through a coarse sieve with a wooden spoon.
Mix the yolks with cream or water, then add olive oil or melted butter.
Add salt, mustard, and white wine vinegar, mixing until smooth.
Prepare and serve
Prepare greens by picking them over, soaking in cool water for 1-2 hours, and drying in a napkin.
Pour the sauce down the side of the salad bowl without stirring until ready to serve.
Garnish the salad with cut egg whites in various shapes.
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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Olive + mustardtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,950 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,297 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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White wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,776 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Olive + white winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,949 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Hard boiled egg yolks
- Form a rich, smooth base that emulsifies with the oil or butter and thickens the dressing.
- Olive oil or melted butter
- Adds fat and body, giving the dressing a smooth, rounded texture.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp flavour and helps hold the emulsion together.
- White wine vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the fat.
The step that matters
Pour the sauce down the side of the salad bowl without stirring. Stirring too early can break or thin the emulsion and dull the flavour. Pouring it down the side and leaving it unstirred keeps the dressing intact until serving, when it is mixed in at the table.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cream, olive, white wine, vinegar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Cucumberfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cream, olive, white wine, 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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