Why it works: Flour and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,066 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
To Make Mustard
Ingredients
Directions
Gradually mix the flour of mustard with boiling water until it reaches a smooth, thick consistency.
Add a little coarse sea salt and store in a small, tightly covered jar.
For immediate use, mix some mustard with warm water until it has the consistency of honey, ensuring it is perfectly smooth.
For a creamy mustard, mix mustard with new milk and add a little cream.
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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Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Mustard + milktop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,658 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, cream):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Potatofits better
- Leekfits better
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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