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
Make the dressing
Rub the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs to a powder.
In a bowl, combine the powdered yolks, olive oil, salt, sugar, mustard, and white pepper.
Thin the mixture with vinegar to your desired consistency.
Serve
Transfer the dressing to a cream jug and pour over your salad as desired.
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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Olive + mustardtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,950 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,297 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + mustardtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,424 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Hard-boiled egg yolks
- Mashed yolks emulsify with the oil and form the body of the dressing.
- Olive oil
- Provides fat and a smooth, rich mouthfeel to the dressing.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and thins the dressing to the desired consistency.
- Mustard
- Contains emulsifiers that help hold the oil and vinegar together.
The step that matters
Combining the yolks with the oil. Yolks must be fully powdered before the oil is added so they can disperse evenly. Lumps of yolk resist emulsifying, leaving a grainy or greasy dressing. Adding vinegar gradually lets the emulsion form and be thinned to the right consistency.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, olive, sugar, mustard, vinegar):
- Capersfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Dillfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, olive, sugar, mustard, vinegar. 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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