Why it works: Vinegar and mustard 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
Heat the vinegar and butter in a saucepan.
In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks, flour, sugar, cream, salt, and mustard together.
Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the combined ingredients.
Return the mixture to the stove and cook until the eggs are set.
If the dressing is too thick, thin it with additional cream.
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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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + creamtop 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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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 yolks
- Thicken the dressing and add richness as they set when cooked.
- Flour
- Stabilises the mixture so it thickens smoothly without curdling.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the dressing its tang.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, and can be added to thin the dressing.
The step that matters
Return the mixture to the stove and cook until the eggs are set.. Egg yolks thicken as their proteins coagulate with heat. Cooking too long or too hot can scramble them, leaving lumps, so stir steadily and remove once the dressing coats a spoon.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, butter, egg, flour, sugar, cream):
- Shallotfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Leekfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, butter, egg, flour, sugar, cream. 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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