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French Mustard

A mustard condiment made with mustard powder, salt, tarragon, garlic, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 901 recipes. Both carry methyleugenol, which smells clove, spice. The science ↓

French Mustard

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mustard

  1. On a plate, combine mustard powder, salt, tarragon, and minced garlic.

  2. Gradually pour in vinegar until the mixture reaches the desired consistency. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Rest

  1. Let it sit for at least 24 hours before using.

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. Mustard + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together901 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  2. Tarragon + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together548 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Mustard + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 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

Mustard powder
Provides the sharp, pungent flavor and forms the body of the paste.
Vinegar
Hydrates the mustard powder and adds acidity that sharpens the flavor.
Garlic
Adds aromatic pungency that mellows during resting.

The step that matters

Let it sit for at least 24 hours. Mustard's sharpness is volatile and develops over time as enzymes in the powder react with the liquid. Resting lets the flavor mellow and become balanced before use.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Dillfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, tarragon, garlic, vinegar. 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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