Why it works: Vinegar and mustard 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 ↓
Wahnuts Pickled
Ingredients
Directions
Prick the unripe walnuts with a pin and place them in a strong brine made of salt and water.
Change the brine every four days for a total of four to five times.
Remove the walnuts from the brine and wipe them dry.
Place the walnuts in a jar and pour boiling vinegar over them.
Add pepper, ginger, mustard seed, or other spices to taste.
Once cooled, cover the jar.
Alternatively, boil the walnuts in vinegar until tender, then place them in a jar with the same vinegar.
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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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Walnut + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together849 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Ginger + mustardtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,456 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 walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, pepper, ginger, mustard):
- Sesamefits better
- Lentilsfits better
- Beansfits better
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, pepper, ginger, mustard. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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