Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, mustard, salt, and corn starch.
Cook
In a double boiler, combine the egg mixture with the butter and milk.
Cook over simmering water, stirring until the mixture is smooth.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Mustard + corntop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together463 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg proteins set when heated, giving the dressing body and structure.
- Corn starch
- Starch granules swell in heat and thicken the liquid into a creamy texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base and adds body and mild sweetness.
The step that matters
Cook gently over simmering water while stirring. Egg proteins can curdle or scramble if the mixture gets too hot, and starch can clump if it is not stirred. Gentle, constant heat and stirring give a smooth, evenly thickened dressing.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, milk, corn):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, milk, corn. 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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