Why it works: Flour and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,066 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
To Prepare Mustard for the Dinner-table
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the mustard flour and salt together until well blended.
Add cold water a little at a time, stirring and rubbing until smooth.
For best flavor, prepare the mustard one hour before serving.
Keep covered to prevent it from drying out.
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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Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Best flour of mustard
- Provides the pungent flavor and thickens the paste when mixed with water.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the mustard flour so it forms a smooth, spreadable paste.
The step that matters
Adding the cold water gradually. Mustard flour releases its pungency and heat when it meets liquid, and adding water slowly while stirring and rubbing prevents lumps and gives an even, smooth paste.
“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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