Why it works: Mustard and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 573 recipes mention both. Both carry methyleugenol, which smells clove, spice. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Make the sauce
Pound the yolks of eggs in a mortar.
Transfer to a basin and add mustard, pepper, and salt.
Gradually pour in salad oil while stirring continuously until thick.
If desired, add minced tarragon or chervil and vinegar.
Serve
Serve as a sauce for steaks, chops, or cutlets.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Mustard + tarragontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together573 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Pepper + tarragontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,691 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Mustard + vinegartop 4% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Tarragon + vinegartop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,299 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + peppertop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together15,427 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Mustard and vinegar share little aroma chemistry, yet 14,067 recipes mention both: they likely 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 yolks
- Emulsify the oil into the sauce, giving it a thick, creamy body.
- Salad oil
- Provides the fat that, emulsified with the yolks, makes up the sauce's rich body.
- Made mustard
- Helps stabilise the emulsion and adds sharp flavour.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich, fatty sauce.
The step that matters
Adding the oil. Oil must be poured in slowly while stirring constantly so the yolks can break it into tiny droplets. Pouring too fast causes the sauce to split or stay thin instead of becoming thick and emulsified.
Flavor stand-ins for the tarragon
The recipe marks tarragon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, mustard, pepper, vinegar):
- Tarragonthe original
- Dillabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, mustard, pepper, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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