Why it works: Walnut and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,769 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Walnut Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mash the pickled walnuts through the vinegar that covers them.
Strain the mixture and boil it until it reaches a proper thickness.
Bottle and store
Bottle the catsup and add a tablespoon of sweet oil on top of each bottle.
Cork the bottles tightly and seal the corks to preserve for several years.
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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Walnut + vinegartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,769 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pickled walnuts
- Provide the main body and concentrated savoury flavour of the sauce.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives sharpness and helps preserve the sauce.
- Sweet oil
- Forms a thin layer on top that shields the surface from air.
The step that matters
Boiling to thickness. Boiling evaporates water, concentrating flavour and thickening the sauce. If it is not boiled enough, the extra moisture can weaken its keeping quality and leave it thinner than intended.
“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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