Why it works: Mustard and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 901 recipes. Both carry methyleugenol, which smells clove, spice. The science ↓
Mayonnaise Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the emulsion
In a small round-bottomed bowl, add the egg yolks.
Slowly drizzle the salad oil into the bowl, drop by drop, while stirring smoothly in one direction with a wooden spoon for 10 to 15 minutes.
Mix in the dry mustard, sugar, tarragon vinegar, salt, and cayenne pepper until the mixture is quite thick.
Finish and serve
Gently fold in the cream last.
Serve immediately over salad just before eating.
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 + tarragontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together901 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Tarragon + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,399 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Their proteins surround the oil droplets and hold the emulsion together, giving the sauce its body.
- Salad oil
- Supplies the fat that, dispersed into the yolks, makes the sauce thick and rich.
- Dry mustard
- Its compounds help stabilise the emulsion so the oil stays suspended in the sauce.
- Tarragon vinegar
- Adds acidity and aroma that balance the richness of the oil.
- Cream
- Folded in at the end, it adds softness and a lighter, smoother texture.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly, drop by drop. Oil must be dispersed into the yolk as tiny droplets before more can join. Adding it too fast overwhelms the yolk's emulsifiers, and the mixture breaks and separates instead of thickening.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, tarragon, vinegar, pepper, cream):
- Mustardthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Shallotfits less well
- Asparagusfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, tarragon, vinegar, pepper, 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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