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Estragon Vinegar

A vinegar infused with tarragon, basil, bay leaves, shallots, and nasturtium.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Tarragon and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 602 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Estragon Vinegar

Ingredients

Directions

Infuse

  1. Combine the fresh tarragon, basil, bay leaves, shallots, and nasturtium in a large container.

  2. Pour the finest vinegar over the herbs, ensuring they are fully submerged.

  3. Seal the container and let it sit for 2-3 weeks in a cool, dark place.

Strain and use

  1. Strain the vinegar through a fine mesh to remove the herbs before using.

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. Tarragon + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together602 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Tarragon + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together326 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  3. Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,547 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Basil + shallottop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together473 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Shallot + vinegartop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,374 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Fresh tarragon
Its aromatic oils infuse into the vinegar, giving it the main tarragon flavour.
Vinegar
Acts as the solvent that draws aroma from the herbs and adds sharp acidity.
Basil
Adds a sweet, aromatic herbal note that blends with the tarragon.
Bay leaves
Release a subtle resinous aroma slowly into the vinegar over the steeping time.

The step that matters

Fully submerge the herbs. Herbs left above the liquid are exposed to air and can spoil or grow mould, while submerged herbs stay protected and infuse evenly.

Swap the basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tarragon, shallot, vinegar):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tarragon, shallot, 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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