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 ↓
Mayonnaise Deessing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the emulsion
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks, salt, pepper, and mustard together with a wooden spoon.
Gradually add the olive oil a few drops at a time, blending each portion before adding more.
Continue stirring until a thick paste forms and the mixture is glossy.
Finish and adjust
Add a few drops of vinegar while stirring until the consistency is like thick cream.
Continue adding oil in drops until the mayonnaise is stiff, then beat in a few drops of vinegar.
Alternate adding oil and vinegar cautiously until all oil is used, ensuring the mayonnaise is stiff enough to stay on top of a salad.
Stir in a few drops of lemon juice with the vinegar.
If curdling occurs, beat the yolks of one or two eggs in a separate bowl, then gradually add the curdled mayonnaise and finish with more oil and vinegar or lemon juice.
For a richer dressing, mix in 1 cup of whipped cream after all ingredients are combined.
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.
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.
-
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,922 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Mustard + olivetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,950 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Egg yolks
- Emulsifies the oil into the mixture, giving the dressing its thick, smooth body.
- Olive oil
- Forms the fat base that, dispersed in droplets, makes the dressing thick and rich.
- Dry mustard
- Helps stabilise the emulsion so the oil stays dispersed and the dressing does not separate.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens flavour and helps the emulsion set to a stiff texture.
- Whipped cream
- Adds richness and a lighter, softer texture to the finished dressing.
The step that matters
Adding the oil. Oil must be added a few drops at a time and fully blended before more is added. Adding it too fast breaks the emulsion, so the mixture curdles and separates instead of thickening.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, mustard, olive, pepper, vinegar, cream):
- Avocadofits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Limefits about as well
- Cherryfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, mustard, olive, pepper, 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.
More mayonnaise dressing recipes
You might also like
Chicken Salad623 recipes
Salad Dressing491 recipes
Tomato Salad179 recipes
Cold Slaw160 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.