Name: Tarragon Vinegar, French Style
Ingredients: 2 gallons wine vinegar; 4 green bell peppers, cut in quarters; 12 shallots

Why it works: Pepper and shallot are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,898 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Tarragon Vinegar, French Style

Ingredients

2 gallons wine vinegar
4 green bell peppers, cut in quarters
12 shallots

Directions

Make the vinegar

In a demijohn, combine the wine vinegar, green bell peppers, and shallots.
Cork it tightly and store it in a cool cellar for 4 weeks.

Strain and bottle

After 4 weeks, strain the mixture through a flannel.
Transfer the strained vinegar into bottles, cork them tightly, and keep in a cool place.

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.

Pepper + shallottop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,898 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Vinegar + shallottop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,374 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Wine + vinegartop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,493 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Wine + shallottop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together841 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Wine vinegar: Serves as the liquid base that draws flavour from the peppers and shallots.
Green bell peppers: Release their aromatic, grassy flavour into the vinegar during steeping.
Shallots: Add a mild, savoury onion-like aroma to the infused vinegar.