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 saucepan, combine sugar, mustard, vinegar, salt, and egg yolks.
Beat well together and cook over medium heat until thickened like custard.
Allow to cool, then store in the refrigerator for up to months.
Serve
When ready to serve, fold in whipped cream.
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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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + mustardtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,424 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that gives the dressing its tang.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the dressing as they cook, forming a custard-like texture.
- Whipped cream
- Folded in at the end to lighten the texture and add richness.
The step that matters
Cook until thickened like custard. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat, but if the heat is too high they can scramble and curdle. Cooking over medium heat while beating keeps the mixture smooth.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, egg, cream):
- Mustardthe original
- Cucumberfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Horseradishfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, egg, 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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