Why it works: Mustard and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 901 recipes. Both carry methyleugenol, which smells clove, spice. The science ↓
Salad Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the eggs until hard, then cool them.
Remove the yolks and mash them with salt, mustard, and sugar until smooth.
Gradually add the salad oil while stirring until well mixed.
Slowly pour in the vinegars while stirring continuously until the mixture resembles thick cream.
Let it stand in a cold place for 1 hour before using.
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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Mustard + tarragontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together901 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Mustard + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,424 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Mashed yolks form the emulsifying base that holds the oil and vinegar together.
- Mustard
- Contains natural emulsifiers that help keep the oil and vinegar from separating.
- Salad oil
- Forms the fat phase that gives the dressing its richness and body.
- Vinegars
- Add acidity that sharpens flavour and thins the emulsion to a pourable cream.
The step that matters
Adding the oil gradually while stirring. Oil must be dispersed slowly into the mashed yolk and mustard so tiny droplets form a stable emulsion. Adding it too fast causes the dressing to break and separate into greasy layers.
Swap the tarragon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, mustard, sugar, vinegar):
- Tarragonthe original
- Capersfits about as well
- Dillfits less well
- Cinnamonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, mustard, sugar, vinegar. 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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