Why it works: Tarragon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,399 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Aspic Mayonnaise
Ingredients
Directions
Make the aspic mayonnaise
Stir the oil into the cold aspic jelly drop by drop until it thickens.
Add vinegar unless the aspic is already tart; then omit vinegar.
Season with coarse sea salt and cayenne pepper to taste.
Ensure all utensils and ingredients are very cold; consider placing the bowl in a larger vessel of cracked ice while stirring.
Use
Use this aspic mayonnaise to garnish salads and cold meats or for jellied dishes.
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.
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Tarragon + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,399 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Aspic jelly
- Forms the gelled base that the oil is emulsified into, giving the mayonnaise its body.
- Oil
- Supplies the fat that, dispersed drop by drop, gives the mayonnaise its rich texture.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens flavour, though it is omitted if the aspic is already tart.
The step that matters
Adding the oil drop by drop while the aspic is cold. Oil must be dispersed slowly into cold, not-yet-stiff aspic so it forms a stable emulsion. Adding it too fast, or into aspic that is too warm or already set, can cause it to separate or fail to thicken evenly.
“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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