Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
Stir sugar, mustard, coarse sea salt, and butter in a bowl until smooth.
Add beaten eggs and mix well.
Combine the mixture with vinegar and milk in a double boiler.
Cook while stirring constantly until thickened.
Store
Store in a cool place for up to several weeks.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 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
- Eggs
- Thicken the dressing as they set when heated, giving it a creamy body.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that balances the sweetness and richness.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness, mellowing the tang of the vinegar.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the acidity of the vinegar.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp flavor and helps emulsify the mixture.
The step that matters
Cook while stirring constantly until thickened. Egg proteins begin to set at gentle heat, and if the mixture sits still it can curdle or scorch on the bottom. Constant stirring over a double boiler keeps heat even so the dressing thickens smoothly.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, vinegar, milk):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, vinegar, milk. 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.
More salad dressing recipes
You might also like
Chicken Salad623 recipes
Tomato Salad179 recipes
Cold Slaw160 recipes
French Dressing58 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.