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French Mustard

A mustard condiment made by steeping wine, spices, garlic, celery seeds, and salt, then mixing with mustard flour and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

French Mustard

Ingredients

Directions

Make the infusion

  1. In a clean saucepan, combine the white wine, mixed spices, crushed garlic, celery seeds, and salt.

  2. Steep on low heat for one hour.

Make the mustard

  1. Mix the mustard flour with equal parts cider and tarragon vinegar to form a smooth paste.

  2. Strain the spices from the wine and add the hot wine to the mustard paste.

  3. Mix thoroughly and bottle for use.

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. Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Garlic + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Clove + celerytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  4. Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  5. White wine + cidertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together194 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Mustard flour
Forms the bulk of the condiment and gives it its sharp, pungent flavour and thick body.
White wine
Provides the liquid that hydrates the mustard flour and carries the flavour of the spices.
Cider vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps the paste keep its tang.
Tarragon vinegar
Contributes acidity and a distinct herbal aroma to the paste.

The step that matters

Adding the hot wine to the mustard paste. Mustard's pungency comes from enzymes released when the powder is wetted, and heat and acid strongly affect how sharp the flavour develops. Mixing thoroughly ensures an even, smooth paste without lumps or dry pockets of flour.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (white wine, clove, celery, mustard, flour, cider, vinegar):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, clove, celery, mustard, flour, cider, vinegar. 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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