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Salad

French Dressing

A vinaigrette made with oil, malt vinegar, tarragon vinegar, salt, white pepper, egg white, and cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and tarragon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,547 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

French Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dressing

  1. In a bowl, combine the oil, malt vinegar, tarragon vinegar, salt, and white pepper, then whisk together until well mixed.

  2. Add the egg white and cream, and whisk again until smooth.

Serve

  1. Serve with lettuce, cold asparagus, or other salads.

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.

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 + tarragontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,547 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Tarragon + white peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together139 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Malt + vinegartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together365 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Vinegar + white peppertop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,154 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Tarragon + creamtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together574 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Oil
Forms the body of the dressing and carries a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
Malt vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that balances the richness of the oil.
Tarragon vinegar
Adds a distinct herbal aroma and extra acidity.
Egg white
Helps emulsify the oil and vinegar, giving the dressing a smoother texture.
Cream
Adds body and softness, mellowing the sharpness of the vinegars.

The step that matters

Add the egg white and cream, and whisk until smooth. Oil and vinegar separate on their own. Whisking the egg white and cream in thoroughly helps form a stable emulsion, so the dressing stays smooth rather than breaking into layers.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (malt, vinegar, tarragon, egg, cream):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against malt, vinegar, tarragon, 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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