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 ↓
Dressing for Cold Slaw
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the dry mustard, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
Stir in the cream and bring to a boil while stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and beat in the whipped eggs.
Return the mixture to the stove over a dish of boiling water.
Stir until thick, then add the vinegar.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Mustard + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,424 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the dressing as they set during gentle cooking, giving it body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, giving the dressing a smooth, creamy body.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the sweetness.
- Dry mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour that complements the sweetness and acidity.
The step that matters
Return the mixture to the stove over a dish of boiling water.. Eggs can scramble if heated too fast. Gentle indirect heat from boiling water lets the egg proteins thicken the dressing smoothly instead of curdling.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, egg, vinegar):
- Mustardthe original
- Cucumberfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Horseradishfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, egg, vinegar. 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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