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 ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the eggs with the sugar.
Add the butter, mustard, pepper, salt, and vinegar.
Cook in a double boiler until it thickens like soft custard.
If using cream, add it and reduce the vinegar accordingly.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken as they cook, setting the dressing into a soft custard texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the dressing.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that gives the dressing its tang.
- Sweet or sour cream
- Adds richness and softens the sharpness when used, as the vinegar is reduced.
The step that matters
Cook in a double boiler until it thickens like soft custard. Eggs thicken when heated gently, but too much heat scrambles them into lumps. A double boiler keeps the temperature moderate, so the dressing thickens smoothly.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, pepper, vinegar, cream):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, pepper, vinegar, cream. 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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