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French Salad Dressing

A vinaigrette made with mustard, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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French Salad Dressing

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 ↓

French Salad Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine ½ teaspoon of mustard.

  2. Slowly add olive oil while stirring constantly until thick.

  3. Thin the mixture by gradually adding vinegar in the same manner.

  4. Continue alternating between olive oil and vinegar until the desired quantity is reached.

  5. Season to taste with coarse sea salt and black pepper.

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 + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Mustard + olivetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,297 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  5. Olive + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,263 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Made mustard
Acts as an emulsifier, helping the oil and vinegar bind into a stable, thick dressing.
Olive oil
Provides fat and body, forming the thick base that vinegar is later stirred into.
Vinegar
Adds acidity and sharpness, thinning the emulsion and balancing the richness of the oil.

The step that matters

Adding the oil slowly while stirring constantly. Oil must be dispersed in small droplets into the mustard to form a stable emulsion. Adding it too quickly lets the droplets merge, so the dressing splits and stays runny instead of thickening.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, vinegar, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Mustardthe original
  4. Cucumberfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, vinegar, 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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