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Salad

Salad Dressing of Butter

A salad dressing made with butter, eggs, sugar, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 of Butter

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine the beaten eggs, sugar, butter, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper.

  2. Beat the mixture together until well combined.

  3. Place the bowl over a kettle of simmering water and stir until the dressing thickens.

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. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg proteins set as they warm, thickening the dressing into a coating consistency.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
Vinegar
Provides acidity that gives the dressing its sharp, tangy flavour.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
Mustard
Adds a sharp, pungent flavour and helps keep the dressing emulsified.

The step that matters

Place the bowl over a kettle of simmering water and stir until the dressing thickens.. Egg proteins set at moderate heat and can scramble if the mixture gets too hot or is not stirred. Gentle, constant stirring over simmering water heats it evenly, so the dressing thickens smoothly.

Swap the mustard

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

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

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