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
In a bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, cream, salt, and mustard.
Cook the mixture in a double boiler until thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in the beaten eggs.
While cooling, add the vinegar.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the dressing as they gently set in the warm mixture, giving body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, coating mouthfeel to the dressing.
- Cream
- Adds fat and body, softening the sharpness and making the dressing creamy.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that brightens the rich dairy and egg base.
The step that matters
Stir the eggs in off the heat. Egg proteins set at low temperatures, so overheating the mixture or adding eggs to a very hot pan can curdle them into lumps. Removing the pan from heat before stirring in the beaten eggs, then letting it cool, keeps the dressing smooth and thickened.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, cream, vinegar, egg):
- Mustardthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Cucumberfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, cream, vinegar, egg. 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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