Why it works: Tarragon and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 602 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Lettuce Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lettuce
Wash and dry the lettuce thoroughly, then break or cut the leaves into bite-sized pieces.
Make the dressing
In a bowl, combine the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs, 2 teaspoons dry mustard, pepper, and salt.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil and mix into a smooth paste.
Gradually add ⅓ cup of oil and 2 tablespoons of vinegar until the mixture is creamy.
Stir in the tarragon, minced eschalot, and diced egg whites.
Toss and serve
Add the lettuce and garden cress, then mix everything thoroughly before serving.
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.
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Tarragon + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together602 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lettuce + tarragontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together425 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Lettuce + garden cresstop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together15 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Tarragon + garden cresstop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together23 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Shallot + garden cresstop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Hard-boiled egg yolks
- Emulsify the oil and vinegar into a smooth, creamy dressing.
- Oil
- Provides fat and body, giving the dressing its smooth, rich texture.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil.
- Lettuce
- Forms the leafy base of the salad, carrying the dressing.
The step that matters
Adding the oil gradually to the yolk paste. Oil must be added slowly so it disperses into tiny droplets held by the yolk's lecithin. Adding it too fast breaks the emulsion, leaving a greasy, separated dressing.
Swap the lettuce
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tarragon, egg, shallot, vinegar, pepper, garden cress):
- Mustardfits better
- Chivefits about as well
- Lettucethe original
- Beetrootfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against tarragon, egg, shallot, vinegar, pepper, garden cress. 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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