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 ↓
French Mayonnaise
Ingredients
Directions
Ensure the egg yolk is free from any egg white.
Beat the yolk with a whisk until very light.
Slowly add the olive oil drop by drop while beating continuously. Spend half the time incorporating the first two spoonfuls of oil.
Once thickened, alternate adding a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar with the oil.
Add salt and cayenne pepper last.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,922 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Olive + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,263 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Egg + olivetop 31% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,340 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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 yolk
- Emulsifies the oil and water, letting the oil disperse into tiny droplets to form a thick sauce.
- Olive oil
- Provides the fat that builds the body and rich texture of the sauce.
- Lemon juice or vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and helps keep the emulsion stable.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly at the start. Oil must be added drop by drop while beating, because the first spoonfuls are what the yolk emulsifies. Adding oil too fast breaks the emulsion, so the mayonnaise stays runny or separates.
“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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