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 Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the eggs
Boil the eggs hard, then cool them in cold water.
Shell the eggs and place the yolks in a mortar.
Make the dressing
Pound the yolks with the mustard and salt.
Slowly add the oil and condensed milk while stirring continuously.
Finally, mix in the vinegar.
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 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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Vinegar + tarragontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + tarragontop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,789 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Egg + mustardtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,210 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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 and give the dressing a thick, creamy body.
- Oil
- Provides fat that, emulsified with the yolks, gives the dressing its smooth richness.
- Made mustard
- Helps hold the oil and yolk emulsion together and adds sharpness.
- Condensed milk
- Adds sweetness and creaminess to balance the vinegar's acidity.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and cuts through the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Slowly add the oil and condensed milk while stirring continuously. Oil must be added slowly while stirring so it disperses into tiny droplets held by the yolk and mustard. Adding it too fast can break the emulsion, leaving the dressing greasy and separated.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, condensed milk, vinegar, tarragon):
- Mustardthe original
- Shallotfits about as well
- Cucumberfits less well
- Chivefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, condensed milk, vinegar, tarragon. 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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