Why it works: Vinegar and mustard 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 double boiler, combine sugar, flour, melted butter, cream, coarse sea salt, vinegar, mustard, and the beaten egg.
Cook while stirring constantly until the mixture thickens.
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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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Its proteins set when heated, helping the dressing thicken and hold together.
- Flour
- Starch swells when heated, adding body and thickening the dressing.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, softening the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that gives the dressing its tangy flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the acidity of the vinegar.
The step that matters
Cook while stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. The egg proteins can curdle or scramble if the mixture gets too hot. A double boiler and constant stirring keep the heat gentle and even, so the dressing thickens smoothly.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, butter, cream, vinegar, egg):
- Shallotfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Leekfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, butter, cream, vinegar, egg. 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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