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
Combine
Mix salt, mustard, sugar, and flour in a bowl.
Add egg yolks, melted butter, milk, and vinegar very slowly.
Cook and cool
Cook over boiling water until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly at first.
Strain the mixture and let it cool.
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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Their proteins set when heated, thickening the dressing and helping bind it.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, velvety mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Its starch swells when heated, thickening the mixture and stabilizing it.
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that gives the dressing its sharp, tangy flavour.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and creaminess, diluting the dressing to a pourable consistency.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp flavour and helps hold the liquid and fat together.
The step that matters
Cooking over boiling water. Egg yolks thicken when gently heated but can scramble if the heat is too high or they are left unstirred. Stirring constantly at first spreads the heat evenly and keeps the dressing smooth.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, egg, butter, milk, vinegar):
- Shallotfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, egg, butter, milk, 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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