Why it works: Mustard and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,424 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
To Prepare Mustard
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine the mustard and sugar.
Add boiling water gradually while stirring constantly until a thick paste forms.
Alternatively, you can use diluted vinegar instead of boiling water.
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 + sugartop 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
- Mustard
- Provides the sharp pungent flavour and forms the body of the paste.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the mustard with a touch of sweetness.
The step that matters
Adding the boiling water gradually. Pouring in the water too quickly can make the paste lumpy or runny. Adding it slowly while stirring lets the mustard absorb the liquid evenly, and the heat of the water helps mellow and thicken the mustard's pungency.
“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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