Why it works: Mustard and capers match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 624 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Tartare Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Beat together the egg yolks and oil until well combined.
Add vinegar and continue to beat until smooth.
Mix in mustard, sugar, capers, cucumber pickles, onion juice, and pepper.
Serve with meats or fish.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Mustard + caperstop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together624 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Capers + cucumbertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together303 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Mustard + cucumbertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,281 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Capers + oniontop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,381 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsifiers that bind the oil and vinegar into a thick, stable sauce.
- Oil
- Supplies the fat that gives the sauce its richness and body.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the richness of the oil.
- Mustard
- Helps stabilise the emulsion and adds a sharp, pungent flavour.
- Capers
- Add a briny, tangy flavour that stands out in the sauce.
The step that matters
Beat the egg yolks and oil until well combined. Egg yolks contain emulsifiers that hold oil droplets suspended in the liquid. If the yolks and oil are not thoroughly combined, the sauce can separate or stay loose instead of becoming thick and smooth.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vinegar, mustard, sugar, capers, cucumber, pepper):
- Horseradishbetter flavor fit
- Shallotbetter flavor fit
- Lettucebetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, vinegar, mustard, sugar, capers, cucumber, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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