Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the egg yolks, sugar, flour, mustard, and salt in a bowl.
Whisk in the vinegar until smooth.
Add cream just before serving to achieve desired consistency.
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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify and thicken the dressing, giving it a smooth, rich body.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with gentle sweetness.
- Flour
- Adds body and helps stabilize the thickened dressing.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that gives the dressing its tang.
- Cream
- Adds richness and softens the dressing to the desired consistency.
The step that matters
Whisking in the vinegar. Egg yolks thicken when gently heated and whisked, but they can scramble or curdle if the mixture is overheated or the vinegar is added too fast. Whisk steadily and add the liquid gradually so the dressing stays smooth.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour, vinegar, cream):
- Mustardthe original
- Arrowrootfits about as well
- Horseradishfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour, vinegar, cream. 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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