Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
French Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Place the dry mustard on a plate and add enough water to achieve the consistency of egg yolk.
Slowly mix in the salad oil, drop by drop, until the mixture thickens enough to hold its shape.
Add vinegar, using about three-fourths the amount of oil, and season with salt if needed.
Serve immediately over your choice of salad.
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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dry mustard
- Contains emulsifying compounds that help hold the oil and vinegar together in a smooth dressing.
- Salad oil
- Provides fat and body, forming the rich base of the dressing as it is mixed in.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Adding the oil drop by drop. Oil added too quickly will not emulsify with the mustard paste and the dressing may split. Slow addition lets the mustard coat tiny oil droplets so the mixture thickens and stays smooth.
“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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