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Boiled Salad Dressing

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

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. In a porcelain or granite pan, combine vinegar and butter. Place on the stove.

  2. Once the butter is melted, remove from heat and let 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 to the stove, stirring constantly from the bottom of the pan.

  6. When it 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 cook gently, giving it a creamy body.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the dressing.
Vinegar
Provides the sharp acidity that defines the dressing's flavor.
Milk
Dilutes the mixture and adds moisture for a smoother, pourable texture.
Mixed mustard
Adds sharp flavor and helps emulsify the dressing.

The step that matters

Return to the stove, stirring constantly from the bottom of the pan.. Egg proteins set when heated, so constant stirring prevents them from scrambling or sticking to the pan while the dressing thickens.

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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