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
In a bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar, mustard, and cayenne pepper.
Add the beaten eggs and stir well.
Cook the mixture in a double boiler, stirring constantly for about five minutes.
Once cooled, stir in the cream and salt.
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 + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken when gently heated and give the dressing body and richness.
- Malt vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that balances the sweetness and richness.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness that offsets the vinegar's sharpness.
- Rich cream
- Adds fat for a smooth, mellow texture once cooled.
The step that matters
Cooking the egg mixture in the double boiler. Eggs thicken as they heat, but too much heat or too little stirring can scramble them into lumps. Gentle, constant stirring over indirect heat keeps the mixture smooth and evenly thickened.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, pepper, cream, malt, vinegar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardthe original
- Potatofits less well
- Cucumberfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, pepper, cream, malt, 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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