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Mustard Dressing

A mustard-based dressing made with vinegar, sugar, egg, and butter, thickened over a double boiler.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

Mustard Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dressing

  1. Mix the mustard, sugar, and salt together.

  2. Gradually add the vinegar while preventing lumps.

  3. Add the well-beaten egg last.

  4. Cook in a double boiler, stirring until thickened.

  5. Remove from heat, add butter, and let cool.

Rest

  1. Allow the dressing to stand for a day before using.

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.

  1. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Mustard + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,424 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Dry mustard
Provides the sharp, pungent flavor that defines the dressing.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that balances sweetness and sharpens the flavor.
Egg
Thickens the dressing as it cooks, giving it a smooth, creamy body.
Butter or olive oil
Adds fat for richness and a softer, rounder mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Cooking the egg mixture gently. Egg proteins set when heated, so cooking over a double boiler while stirring thickens the dressing smoothly. Too much heat can scramble the egg and leave lumps.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, egg, butter):

  1. Mustardthe original
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Cucumberfits about as well
  4. Shallotfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, egg, butter. 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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