Why it works: Tarragon and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,547 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Flavored Vinegars
Ingredients
Directions
Infuse
Place the herbs in a large jar.
Pour the vinegar over the herbs.
Seal the jar and let it sit for 10 days.
Strain and bottle
Strain the mixture to remove the herbs.
Bottle the flavored vinegar for use.
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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Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh herbs
- Steeping releases aroma and flavor compounds from the leaves into the vinegar.
- Sharp vinegar
- Acts as the solvent that extracts flavor and adds sharp acidity.
The step that matters
Let the jar sit for 10 days. Flavor compounds move from the herbs into the vinegar slowly, so a shorter steep gives a weaker, less complete flavor.
“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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