Why it works: Vinegar and mustard 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 ↓
Mustard Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Brine the vegetables
Take equal quantities of small cucumbers, sliced green tomatoes, cauliflowers, and small button onions.
Cover the vegetables with brine and let stand for twenty-four hours.
Pour off the brine and scald the pickles.
Pickle
Dissolve a bit of alum the size of a nutmeg in the scalded brine.
Pour the boiling brine over the pickles.
When the mixture is cold, drain the pickles thoroughly.
Prepare as much vinegar as there were quarts of brine.
Make the sauce and finish
Mix one quart of vinegar, one cup of brown sugar, half a cup of flour, and one-fourth pound of ground mustard with the boiling vinegar.
Stir the mixture until smooth.
Pour the mixture over the pickles.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mustard + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + mustardtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,424 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Vinegar
- Provides the sharp acidity that gives the pickles their tang and helps preserve them.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Ground mustard
- Supplies the pungent mustard flavor and the yellow color of the sauce.
- Flour
- Its starch thickens the vinegar mixture into a smooth, coating sauce.
The step that matters
Stir the mixture until smooth. Flour must be fully dispersed in the liquid before it heats and thickens, otherwise its starch clumps into lumps that stay in the sauce.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, flour):
- Mustardthe original
- Arrowrootfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
- Beetrootfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, flour. 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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