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 ↓
Fresh Herrings
Ingredients
Directions
Cut off the heads and clean the herrings thoroughly.
Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and place on a grill over a bright fire.
Broil for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on size, until cooked through.
For the mustard sauce, knead the baked flour and mustard powder with the butter.
Stir in the boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.
Add the vinegar and serve the sauce hot with the broiled herrings.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + buttertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,003 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,513 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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, butter, vinegar):
- Shallotfits better
- Mustardthe original
- Chivefits about as well
- Cucumberfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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