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 ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Beat the egg yolks in a bowl.
Wet the mustard with a little water and add it to the yolks.
Mix in the salt, powdered sugar, and cream.
Make the dressing
Melt the butter in the vinegar over low heat.
Combine the butter and vinegar mixture with the yolk mixture, stirring over hot water until it thickens.
Fold in the beaten egg whites.
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 + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify and thicken the dressing as they set over gentle heat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and body, helping the dressing turn smooth and creamy.
- Vinegar
- Provides sharp acidity that balances the richness of the yolks and butter.
- Egg whites
- Folded in at the end to lighten the dressing and add airy volume.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and softness, mellowing the tang of the vinegar.
The step that matters
Stirring the butter and vinegar into the yolks over hot water. Egg yolks thicken when gently heated, but too much heat scrambles them into lumps. Keep the water hot, not boiling, and stir constantly so the custard-like mixture thickens smoothly.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, cream, vinegar, butter):
- Mustardthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Cucumberfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, cream, vinegar, butter. 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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