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
Make the dressing
In a bowl, stir together sugar, flour, salt, pepper, and mustard.
Add vinegar and cook in a double boiler, stirring while it cooks.
Once thickened, remove from heat and beat in butter or olive oil.
When cool, mix in enough cream or milk to thin the dressing. Beat thoroughly with a wire whisk.
Store
Store in a cool place for up to a week.
If it thickens, thin with milk.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + mustardtop 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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that gives the dressing its tang and balances the sweetness.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooked dressing as its starch swells with heat.
- Butter or olive oil
- Adds fat, giving the dressing a richer mouthfeel and smoother body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Cream or milk
- Adds moisture and thins the dressing to a pourable consistency.
The step that matters
Cook the vinegar mixture in a double boiler, stirring. Gentle indirect heat and constant stirring let the flour starch swell evenly and thicken the dressing without scorching or lumps forming on the bottom of the pan.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, pepper, vinegar, butter, cream):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Shallotfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, pepper, vinegar, butter, 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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