Why it works: Horseradish and mustard 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 ↓
To Make Mangoes
Ingredients
Directions
Cut a slice from the melon large enough to remove the seeds.
Place the melons in brine and scald as directed.
Fill the melons with prepared cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, and onions.
Season the filling with spices, horseradish, and mustard to taste.
Replace the slice you cut out and stitch it closed.
When ready to serve, remove the stitches and place on the table.
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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Horseradish + mustardtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,832 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,713 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cucumber + horseradishtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together640 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cucumber + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,281 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cucumber + tomatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,405 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the horseradish
The recipe marks horseradish as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (melon, cucumber, beans, tomato, onion, mustard, vinegar):
- Lettucefits better
- Broccolifits about as well
- Horseradishthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against melon, cucumber, beans, tomato, onion, mustard, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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