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Salad

Boiled Salad Dressing

A vinaigrette made by boiling butter and vinegar, then whisking eggs, mustard, salt, celery salt, pepper, and milk into the mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Boiled Salad Dressing

Why it works: Mustard and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Boiled Salad Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine vinegar and butter in a porcelain or granite pan. Place pan on the stove.

  2. Once the butter has melted, remove pan from heat and let it cool.

  3. Beat the eggs until light, then add mustard, salt, celery salt, pepper, and milk.

  4. Pour the egg mixture into the cooled vinegar and butter mixture.

  5. Return the pan to the stove, stirring constantly from the bottom.

  6. When the mixture begins to thicken, remove from heat and stir until smooth.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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 when gently heated, giving it body.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, creamy mouthfeel to the dressing.
Vinegar
Provides the sharp acidity that gives the dressing its tang.
Milk
Dilutes the mixture and softens its flavor, adding moisture.
Mixed mustard
Adds sharpness and aroma that balances the richness of the eggs and butter.

The step that matters

Return the pan to the stove, stirring constantly from the bottom.. Egg proteins set when heated, and they can curdle or scramble if the mixture overheats or sits unstirred on the heat. Constant stirring spreads heat evenly so the dressing thickens smoothly; removing it promptly when it begins to thicken prevents lumps.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, vinegar, egg, milk, mustard, pepper):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Dillfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, vinegar, egg, milk, mustard, pepper. 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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