Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Beat the egg yolks in a bowl.
Gradually add the sugar, salt, mustard, melted butter, milk, and vinegar.
Cook and finish
Cook the mixture over low heat until soft.
Remove from heat and fold in the beaten egg whites while hot.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 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
- Eggs
- Thicken the dressing as the proteins set gently when heated, giving body and structure.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother, rounder mouthfeel.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and dilutes the egg so the dressing stays smooth and pourable.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and balances the sweetness.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the acidity and mustard.
- Dry mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavor that gives the dressing its character.
The step that matters
Cook the mixture over low heat until soft.. Egg proteins thicken gently at moderate temperatures. Too much heat makes them curdle or scramble, leaving a grainy texture, so low heat and steady stirring keep the dressing smooth.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, milk, vinegar):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, milk, 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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