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Sauce

Imperial Mayonnaise

A creamy sauce made from aspic, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and cayenne pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Olive and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,297 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓

Imperial Mayonnaise

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine the aspic or jellied stock with olive oil, vinegar, salt, and cayenne.

  2. Break the jelly into small pieces using a whisk.

  3. Stir the ingredients well together.

  4. Whisk gently until the mixture becomes a smooth white sauce.

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.

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

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

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

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

  3. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Aspic or clear pale jellied stock
Forms the watery, gelled base that holds the oil dispersed and gives the sauce its body.
Olive oil
Supplies the fat that is dispersed into droplets, giving the sauce its richness and smooth, creamy texture.
Vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness of the oil.

The step that matters

Whisking gently until smooth. The oil must be broken into very fine droplets and evenly dispersed through the jelly to form a stable emulsion. If the mixture is not whisked enough, the oil stays in separate streaks and the sauce will not look smooth or hold together.

“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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