Name: One Thousand Island Dressing
Ingredients: 4 hard boiled egg yolks, grated; ¾ cup olive oil; 1½ cups chili sauce; grated onion to taste

Why it works: Olive and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,779 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

One Thousand Island Dressing

Ingredients

4 hard boiled egg yolks, grated
¾ cup olive oil
1½ cups chili sauce
grated onion to taste

Directions

In a bowl, combine the grated egg yolks and olive oil.
Stir in the chili sauce until well mixed.
Add grated onion to taste and mix thoroughly.

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.

Olive + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,779 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sauce + oniontop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together10,474 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Olive + saucetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,568 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Egg + olivetop 31% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,340 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Egg + oniontop 34% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together23,333 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Sauce and onion barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,474 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks: Their lecithin helps emulsify the oil so it stays suspended in the dressing.
Olive oil: Adds fat for richness and a smooth, silky body.
Chili sauce: Supplies the main sweetness, acidity and colour of the dressing.
Grated onion: Adds sharp aroma and savoury bite.