Why it works: Vinegar and mint are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,376 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Thyme and Mint Vinegar
Ingredients
Directions
Infuse
Pick the leaves of mint or thyme and add one handful to a quart of vinegar.
Strain the mixture every morning for three days, adding fresh leaves each time.
Do not let the leaves sit in the vinegar for more than twenty-four hours.
Bottle
On the third day, strain and bottle the vinegar for use in sauces.
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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Vinegar + minttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,376 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
- Vinegar
- Acidic base that carries the herb flavor and keeps the infused liquid stable.
- Fresh mint or thyme leaves
- Release aromatic oils into the vinegar, giving it a herbal flavor.
The step that matters
Do not let the leaves sit more than twenty-four hours. Leaves left in acid for too long can turn bitter, dull, or murky as their compounds over-extract. Straining daily and replacing the leaves keeps the flavor fresh and clean.
“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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