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Salad

Salad Dressing

A thickened vinaigrette made with vinegar, sweet milk, butter, mustard, flour, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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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 ↓

Salad Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Make the paste

  1. In a bowl, mix mustard, sugar, flour, milk, and seasonings to form a smooth paste.

Cook the dressing

  1. In a saucepan, boil vinegar with butter.

  2. Combine the boiled vinegar mixture with the other ingredients.

  3. Boil all together, stirring constantly until thickened.

Finish with egg whites

  1. Beat the egg whites until frothy.

  2. Fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture.

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. Milk + buttertop 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
Egg whites fold in air for a lighter, frothier texture in the finished dressing.
Flour
Starch thickens the liquid as it boils, giving the dressing body.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that gives the dressing its tangy flavor.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.

The step that matters

Boil all together, stirring constantly until thickened. Flour starch thickens only when heated with liquid, and constant stirring prevents lumps and scorching on the bottom of the pan. Stopping too early leaves the dressing thin.

Swap the celery

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

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

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