Why it works: Milk and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 28% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,949 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓
Curd for Rennet
Ingredients
Directions
Heat milk that has stood for 5-6 hours and separate the cream completely.
Add a little vinegar to the milk and heat gently until it coagulates.
Pour off the whey and wash the curd by kneading it with water.
To purify further, dissolve the curd in a weak solution of carbonate of soda and let it stand for 12 hours.
Separate any cream that rises, then throw down the curd with vinegar and wash frequently.
Repeat the process 3-4 times to remove fatty and saline matters.
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.
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Milk + vinegartop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,949 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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