Name: Vinaigrette Sauce
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons salad oil; 1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar; ¼ teaspoon chili vinegar; 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, finely chopped; 1 teaspoon fresh chervil, finely chopped; ¼ teaspoon mignonette pepper; a dust of red pepper; a good pinch of salt

Why it works: Tarragon and chervil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 824 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Vinaigrette Sauce

Ingredients

3 tablespoons salad oil
1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar
¼ teaspoon chili vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh chervil, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon mignonette pepper
a dust of red pepper
a good pinch of salt

Directions

Combine the salad oil, tarragon vinegar, chili vinegar, chopped tarragon, chopped chervil, mignonette pepper, red pepper, and salt in a basin, then mix well and serve in a sauce boat.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Tarragon + cherviltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together824 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Tarragon + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,399 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,547 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Chervil + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together867 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Vinegar + cherviltop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together561 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Salad oil: Forms the fat base that carries the flavour and gives the sauce a smooth body.
Tarragon vinegar: Adds acidity and sharpness that cut through the oil and brighten the sauce.
Chili vinegar: Adds acidity and a gentle heat that complements the herbs.
Fresh tarragon: Contributes a distinctive aniseed aroma central to the sauce's flavour.
Fresh chervil: Adds a delicate, fresh herbal aroma.

“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.