Why it works: Tarragon and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,299 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
In a round-bottomed basin, combine the egg yolk and salt.
Quickly stir in the sweet oil, drop by drop, while rapidly working the spoon to incorporate the oil.
Once thick, add a few drops of tarragon vinegar.
Continue adding more oil until you have enough sauce.
Thin the sauce with a little more vinegar to achieve a thick, slightly acidic consistency.
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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Tarragon + vinegartop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,299 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + tarragontop 13% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together1,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Egg + vinegartop 22% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together12,205 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolk
- Emulsifies the oil and water, giving the sauce its thick, creamy structure.
- Sweet oil
- Provides the fat that, dispersed into the yolk, forms the body of the sauce.
- Tarragon vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens flavor and helps thin the finished sauce.
The step that matters
Adding the oil drop by drop. Oil added too quickly at the start can't be absorbed by the yolk and the emulsion breaks, leaving the sauce oily and runny. Adding it slowly while whisking lets the droplets disperse and stabilize before more is added.
Flavor stand-ins for the tarragon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vinegar):
- Tarragonthe original
- Dillabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, 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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