Why it works: Mustard and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,832 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Pickled Walnuts
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the walnuts
Pick green walnuts that can be easily pierced with a needle.
Soak them in brine strong enough to float an egg for nine days, stirring and changing the brine often.
Drain the walnuts and expose them to the sun until they turn black.
Scald the walnuts in boiling water.
Pickle and bottle
Boil the vinegar and spices together for fifteen minutes, then strain.
Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the walnuts.
Tie mustard seed and grated horseradish in muslin and add to the mixture.
Bottle the walnuts and seal tightly.
For best flavor, let them sit for six months before opening.
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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Mustard + horseradishtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,832 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,331 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Allspice + mustardtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,928 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Green walnuts
- Provide the main body and flavor that darkens and softens during brining and pickling.
- Vinegar
- Acts as the pickling liquid, preserving the walnuts and giving them their sharp acidity.
- Brine (in the method)
- Draws out bitterness and moisture from the walnuts before they are pickled.
- Cloves
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor to the pickling liquid.
- Mustard seed
- Contributes pungent, sharp flavor to the pickling liquid, tied in muslin for easy removal.
- Horseradish
- Adds a sharp, pungent bite to the pickling liquid.
The step that matters
Soaking in brine for nine days. Brine must be strong enough to float an egg and changed often, because the walnuts must be thoroughly leached of bitterness and tannins before pickling; weak or stale brine leaves them harsh.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, clove, allspice, nutmeg, pepper, mustard, horseradish):
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Lentilsfits about as well
- Chickpeafits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, clove, allspice, nutmeg, pepper, mustard, horseradish. 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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