Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Cream Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Rub the yolks of the hard boiled eggs until smooth.
Mix in the mustard, sugar, and pepper.
Add the raw egg and beat well.
Gradually add the thick cream, alternating with the lemon juice and vinegar, while beating constantly.
Finally, stir in the chopped whites of the boiled eggs.
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.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Mustard + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,816 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Hard boiled egg yolks
- Their fat and smooth texture give the dressing its body when rubbed to a paste.
- Raw egg
- Its proteins emulsify with the cream and oil-like fats, helping the dressing hold together.
- Thick cream
- Supplies fat and volume, giving the dressing a rich, creamy texture.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness of the cream.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness.
The step that matters
Gradually add the thick cream, alternating with the lemon juice and vinegar, while beating constantly. Adding liquids slowly while beating lets the egg and cream form a stable emulsion. Adding them too fast can break the mixture, leaving it thin or separated.
“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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