Name: Salad Dressing
Ingredients: 1 egg, well beaten; 2 tablespoons melted butter; 1 tablespoon sugar; 1 teaspoon mustard; ¼ teaspoon salt; ½ cup vinegar; 1 cup cream

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 Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

In a bowl, beat the egg until well mixed.
Add melted butter, sugar, mustard, and salt; mix well.
Stir in vinegar and cream until fully combined.

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.

Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg: Adds richness and helps bind the dressing together as it emulsifies.
Melted butter: Adds fat for a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
Sugar: Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.
Mustard: Helps stabilize the emulsion and adds a sharp, savory note.
Vinegar: Provides acidity that brightens the flavor and cuts the richness.
Cream: Adds fat and body, giving the dressing a smooth, creamy texture.

Swap the mustard

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

Mustardthe original
Capsicumfits about as well
Chivefits about as well
Cucumberfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, sugar, vinegar, 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.