Why it works: Olive and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,922 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine the sifted yolks of 2 hard boiled eggs and 1 raw egg yolk.
Add 1 teaspoon of mustard and mix well.
Gradually whisk in 1 cup of olive oil.
Stir in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or 1 tablespoon of vinegar.
Add ¼ teaspoon of salt and ⅓ cup of white wine, then mix thoroughly and chill in the refrigerator until ready to 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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Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,922 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Mustard + olivetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,950 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lemon + white winetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Mustard + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,816 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Olive + white winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,949 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify the oil and water-based liquids into a thick, smooth dressing.
- Olive oil
- Provides the fat that gives the dressing its body and rich mouthfeel.
- Mustard
- Helps stabilise the emulsion so the oil stays suspended in the dressing.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens flavour and balances the richness of the oil and yolks.
The step that matters
Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Adding oil too quickly before the yolks can hold it breaks the emulsion, so the dressing separates instead of thickening. Adding it slowly in a thin stream lets the lecithin in the yolks coat the oil droplets and keep them dispersed.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, olive, lemon, white wine):
- Asparagusfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, olive, lemon, white wine. 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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