Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Prepared Mustard
Ingredients
Directions
Mix mustard, sugar, salt, and enough boiling water to create a paste.
Let it cool, then add salad oil and vinegar to thin it.
Store in a sealed container; it will keep for a week or two.
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 + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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 that defines the sauce.
- Salad oil
- Adds fat and smoothness, mellowing the sauce's sharpness and giving it body.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and thins the paste into a pourable sauce.
The step that matters
Let it cool before adding oil and vinegar. Boiling water makes the paste hot, and adding oil and vinegar while it is still hot can change the flavour and texture of the mustard. Cooling first lets the paste settle before it is thinned.
“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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