Why it works: Olive and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,297 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓
Imperial Mayonnaise
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine the jellied stock, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and cayenne.
Break the jelly into small pieces using a whisk.
Stir the ingredients well together.
Whisk gently until the mixture becomes a smooth white sauce.
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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Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,297 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Olive + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,263 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Clear jellied stock (aspic)
- Sets the base into a jelly and supplies liquid for the sauce to emulsify around.
- Olive oil
- Provides fat that, emulsified into the liquid, gives the sauce its smooth, rich body.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Whisking gently until smooth. Oil and jelly only form a stable emulsion when they are beaten slowly and evenly. Whisking too hard or too fast can break the mixture, leaving oil separated instead of a smooth white sauce.
“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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