Name: Mustard, to Make
Ingredients: mustard powder; boiling water; vinegar (optional); salt (optional); milk (optional); cream (optional)

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 ↓

Mustard, to Make

Ingredients

Directions

Measure the desired amount of mustard powder into a teacup.
Stir in boiling water until smooth and of the right consistency.
For a French variation, mix with vinegar instead of water.
Optionally, add salt for flavor.
For a milder mustard, use milk and a little cream instead of water.

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.

Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,399 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Mustard + milktop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,658 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Vinegar + creamtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,064 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Mustard + creamtop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,935 recipes

Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).