Why it works: Tarragon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,399 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Mayonnaise Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Combine the egg yolk, tarragon vinegar, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a basin, then mix well with a wooden spoon.
Emulsify the oil
Cover the top of the oil bottle with your thumb and add the oil drop by drop, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
After about 40-50 drops, add the oil by the teaspoon until you have used about ½ cup.
Finish
Taste and adjust seasoning with more vinegar, salt, or pepper as needed.
For added flavor, rub the mixing basin with shallot or garlic, or add finely minced shallot and parsley.
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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Tarragon + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,399 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Egg + tarragontop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,789 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Egg + vinegartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,922 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and vinegar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,922 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolk
- Its lecithin emulsifies the oil into the vinegar, holding the sauce together as a thick emulsion.
- Oil
- Forms the bulk of the emulsion, giving the mayonnaise its rich body and fat content.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and helps keep the emulsion stable.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly at the start. The first drops must be added very slowly and mixed in fully, because the yolk can only absorb small amounts of oil at a time. Adding oil too fast breaks the emulsion, so the sauce separates and looks oily instead of thick.
Swap the tarragon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vinegar, pepper):
- Tarragonthe original
- Dillfits about as well
- Parsleyfits less well
- Allspicefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, 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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