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 ↓
Mayonnaise
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mayonnaise
Beat the yolk of one egg in a bowl until it thickens.
Gradually add oil drop by drop while beating continuously.
Once a teaspoon of oil is incorporated, add it in larger drops, continuing to beat well.
When the mixture thickens, add a little lemon juice, then more oil and lemon juice alternately.
Fix and thin
If the mixture curdles, beat another yolk in a separate bowl and gradually incorporate the curdled dressing.
To thin the mayonnaise, add an equal amount of whipped 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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,816 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Lemon + vinegartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,334 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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 yolk
- Emulsifies the oil and water in lemon juice, holding the sauce together and giving it body.
- Oil
- Forms the bulk of the sauce, giving mayonnaise its rich, creamy texture when emulsified.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and helps balance the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Adding the oil. Oil must be added drop by drop at first while beating constantly, so the droplets disperse and the yolk can coat them. Adding too much oil too soon overwhelms the yolk and the emulsion breaks, causing the mixture to curdle.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, mustard, vinegar, cream):
- Avocadofits better
- Strawberryfits about as well
- Raspberryfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, mustard, vinegar, 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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