Name: Mustard, to Make
Ingredients: best Durham mustard; boiling water; salt; milk; raw cream

Why it works: Milk and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,399 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Mustard, to Make

Ingredients

Directions

Gradually mix the best Durham mustard with boiling water until it reaches a proper thickness.
Rub it smooth and add a little salt.
Store in a small jar, tightly covered, and use within a day or two.
For immediate use, mix mustard with milk instead of water, then add a little raw cream for a softer texture.

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.

Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,399 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Mustard + milktop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,658 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Mustard + creamtop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,935 recipes

Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).