Why it works: Mustard and capers match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 624 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Tartar Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks, oil, and vinegar until well combined.
Add the mustard, sugar, capers, cucumber pickles, onion juice, and pepper.
Mix until smooth and serve with meats or fish.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Mustard + caperstop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together624 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Capers + cucumbertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together303 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Mustard + cucumbertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,281 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Capers + oniontop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,381 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
- Egg yolks
- Lecithin in the yolks helps emulsify the oil, giving the sauce its thick, creamy body.
- Oil
- Provides the fat that makes the sauce rich and smooth.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and cuts through the richness of the oil and yolks.
- Mustard
- Acts as an additional emulsifier and adds a sharp, pungent flavor.
- Capers
- Contribute a briny, tangy bite that stands out against the rich base.
- Sugar
- Adds a small amount of sweetness that balances the vinegar's sharpness.
The step that matters
Beating the egg yolks, oil, and vinegar together. Yolks must be beaten thoroughly with the oil and vinegar so the oil forms a stable emulsion. If the mixture is not well combined, the sauce can stay thin or separate.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vinegar, mustard, sugar, capers, cucumber, pepper):
- Horseradishbetter flavor fit
- Shallotbetter flavor fit
- Lettucebetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, vinegar, mustard, sugar, capers, cucumber, pepper. 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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