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Mayonnaise Dressing

A creamy dressing made with egg yolk, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and mustard 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 ↓

Mayonnaise Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Make the emulsion

  1. Separate the egg white from the yolk.

  2. In a bowl, mix the yolk with lemon juice, salt, pepper, and mustard.

  3. Slowly add the oil, a few drops at a time, stirring steadily until the dressing thickens.

  4. When about two-thirds of the oil is used, add the vinegar gradually, then the remaining oil.

  5. Continue stirring until well combined.

Chill and finish

  1. Chill the dressing until needed.

  2. Before serving, whip the egg white to a froth and gently fold it into the dressing.

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 + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Lemon + mustardtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,816 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Lemon + white peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,658 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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 yolk
Its lecithin emulsifies the oil into the lemon juice, forming a thick dressing.
Oil
Forms the bulk of the dressing, giving richness and a smooth, thick texture.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and helps keep the emulsion stable.
Vinegar
Adds acidity and sharpness, balancing the richness of the oil.
Egg white
Whipped to a froth and folded in, it lightens the dressing's texture.

The step that matters

Adding the oil slowly at the start. Oil must be added a few drops at a time while stirring, so it disperses into tiny droplets held by egg yolk lecithin. Adding it too fast can break the emulsion, leaving the dressing thin and oily instead of thick.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vinegar, lemon, mustard):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Dillfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, vinegar, lemon, mustard. 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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