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Spiced Vinegar

A vinegar infused with sugar, spices, and horseradish, steeped for weeks.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,832 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Spiced Vinegar

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large container.

  2. Stir well until the sugar is dissolved.

  3. Seal the container and let it sit for at least 2 weeks, shaking occasionally.

  4. Strain the mixture 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 + horseradishtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,832 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Allspice + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,928 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Allspice + horseradishtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together654 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cider vinegar
Provides the acidic liquid base that carries and extracts the spice flavors.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.
Horseradish
Contributes a pungent, sharp heat that infuses into the vinegar over time.
Mustard seed
Adds a sharp, pungent flavor that mellows as it steeps in the vinegar.

The step that matters

Let it sit for at least 2 weeks. Flavors are drawn out of the spices and horseradish slowly by the acidic liquid, so a short steep yields a weak, harsh vinegar. Shaking helps distribute the dissolved sugar and extracted flavors evenly.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cider, vinegar, sugar, allspice, mustard, cinnamon, horseradish):

  1. Clovefits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cider, vinegar, sugar, allspice, mustard, cinnamon, horseradish. 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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