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
Prepare the egg mixture
Beat the yolks of the eggs in a bowl.
Add sugar, salt, mustard, black pepper, and cream; mix thoroughly.
Make the vinegar mixture
In a saucepan, bring vinegar to a boil.
Add butter to the boiling vinegar and let it come to a boil again.
Combine and bottle
Pour the vinegar mixture into the egg mixture and stir well.
Bottle the dressing for use.
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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify with butter and thicken the dressing as it combines with the warm vinegar.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the dressing a smoother, creamier body.
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that sharpens flavor and helps set the egg yolks.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and fat, softening the texture of the dressing.
The step that matters
Pour the vinegar mixture into the egg mixture and stir well. Pouring hot vinegar into egg yolks must be done while stirring constantly so the yolks warm gradually and thicken smoothly instead of scrambling into lumps.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, pepper, cream, vinegar, butter):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, pepper, cream, vinegar, butter. 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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