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Dutch Mustard

A mustard condiment made with dry mustard, sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg yolk, vinegar, and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Dutch Mustard

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, mix the dry mustard, sugar, cornstarch, and salt together.

  2. Gradually add the egg yolk and milk, stirring until smooth.

Cook

  1. Transfer the mixture to a double boiler.

  2. Heat gently and add the vinegar once warm.

  3. Cook until thick and smooth, stirring constantly.

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. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Mustard + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,424 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Cornstarch
Thickens the mixture as it heats, giving the mustard a smooth, thick body.
Egg yolk
Adds richness and helps emulsify and thicken the mustard as it cooks.
Vinegar
Adds sharpness and acidity that balances the sweetness and mustard heat.
Dry mustard
Provides the main flavour and pungent heat of the condiment.
Sugar
Softens the sharp bite of the mustard and vinegar with sweetness.

The step that matters

Cook gently and stir constantly in the double boiler. Egg yolk can curdle or scramble if it gets too hot, and cornstarch needs steady stirring to thicken evenly without lumps. Gentle, constant heat keeps the sauce smooth.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, vinegar, milk):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Cucumberfits about as well
  4. Sweet potatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, vinegar, milk. 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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