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 ↓
Modified Mayonnaise
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Mix flour, salt, mustard, paprika, and cayenne in a bowl.
Add vinegar or lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of oil, and boiling water; stir until thick.
Finish the mayonnaise
Cool the mixture, then add the egg yolk and beat well.
Gradually add the remaining oil and mix thoroughly.
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).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
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 so the sauce stays smooth and thick instead of separating.
- Salad oil
- Forms the bulk of the sauce, providing richness and body as it is dispersed into droplets.
- Flour
- Thickens the mixture when cooked with the boiling water, giving body that helps hold the emulsion.
- Vinegar or lemon juice
- Adds acidity for sharp flavour and helps stabilise the emulsion.
- Mustard
- Contains natural emulsifiers that help bind oil and water together.
The step that matters
Gradually add the remaining oil. Adding oil slowly while beating lets it break into tiny droplets that the egg yolk and thickened base can surround. Adding it too fast overwhelms the emulsifiers, and the sauce may split and turn oily.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, pepper, vinegar, egg):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Cucumberfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, pepper, vinegar, egg. 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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