Why it works: Mustard and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 901 recipes. Both carry methyleugenol, which smells clove, spice. The science ↓
Mayonnaise Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the yolks
Separate the yolks and whites of the eggs, placing the yolks in a bowl.
Stir the yolks gently to break them.
Add salt, pepper, and French vinegar to the yolks.
Make the mayonnaise
With your thumb partially covering the top of the salad oil bottle, pour the oil in drop by drop while whisking continuously.
Continue until you have added ½ cup of oil.
If desired, stir in mustard or tarragon vinegar smoothly.
The sauce is now ready for use.
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 + tarragontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together901 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Pepper + tarragontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,399 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Vinegar + tarragontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg yolks act as an emulsifier, holding the oil and vinegar together as a smooth sauce.
- Salad oil
- Supplies the fat that, dispersed in droplets, thickens the sauce into a rich texture.
- French vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and helps stabilise the emulsion.
- Mustard
- Its natural emulsifiers help the sauce hold together and add a sharp flavour.
The step that matters
Adding the oil drop by drop while whisking. Oil added too fast cannot be absorbed by the yolks, so the emulsion breaks and the sauce turns thin and oily. Slow addition with constant whisking lets tiny droplets disperse and thicken the sauce.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, pepper, vinegar, tarragon):
- Mustardthe original
- Shallotfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Cucumberfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, vinegar, tarragon. 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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