Why it works: Horse and radish work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 529 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓
Horseradish As Garnish
Ingredients
Directions
Wash and scrub the horse-radish thoroughly.
Soak the horse-radish in cold water for 1 hour.
Scrape the horse-radish very finely with a sharp knife.
Arrange the horse-radish in little bunches around the dish or place it in a small glass dish near the carver.
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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Horse + radishtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together529 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Radish + vinegartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together508 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Radish + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together382 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the radish
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (horse, pepper, vinegar, sugar):
- Mustardfits about as well
- Radishthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Cucumberfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against horse, pepper, vinegar, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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