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Tarragon Vinegar

A vinegar infused with fresh tarragon leaves, clarified with isinglass, and bottled for storage.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Tarragon Vinegar

Ingredients

Directions

Infuse

  1. Place the tarragon leaves in a stone jar.

  2. Pour the vinegar into the jar.

  3. Let the mixture ferment for two weeks.

  4. Strain the mixture through a flannel bag.

Clarify

  1. Dissolve the isinglass in cider.

  2. Add the dissolved isinglass to the vinegar.

  3. Transfer the clarified vinegar to a clean jar.

  4. Let it sit until clear.

Bottle and store

  1. Pour the clear vinegar into small bottles.

  2. Cork the bottles tightly.

  3. Store the bottles in a dry place.

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. Vinegar + cidertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Tarragon + cidertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together74 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Tarragon leaves
Supply the aromatic flavor that the vinegar takes up during infusion.
Vinegar
Acts as the solvent that extracts flavor from the tarragon leaves.
Isinglass
Fining agent that binds haze particles so they settle out, leaving the vinegar clear.

The step that matters

Letting the mixture sit until clear. Isinglass must be fully dissolved and given time to settle. Rushing this step leaves haze in the vinegar, because the fining agent needs time to bind suspended particles and carry them to the bottom.

Swap the tarragon

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

  1. Allspicefits about as well
  2. Tarragonthe original
  3. Peppermintfits about as well
  4. Clovefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, cider. 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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