Name: Spanish Prepared Mustard
Ingredients: 10 gallons peppers (out of brine); 5 gallons German mustard; 5 gallons chopped ripe olives; 5 gallons 50-grain vinegar; 2 pounds salt

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 ↓

Spanish Prepared Mustard

Ingredients

Directions

Grind the peppers in a grinding machine several times.
Add the German mustard, chopped olives, vinegar, and salt to the ground peppers.
Run the mixture through the stone grinder twice.

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.

Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Mustard + olivetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,950 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,263 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Peppers: Make up the bulk of the paste and give it its mild, sweet pepper flavour.
German mustard: Adds sharp, pungent mustard flavour that gives the paste its bite.
Chopped ripe olives: Add a briny, mellow richness and soft texture to the paste.
50-grain vinegar: Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the sweetness of the peppers.