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German Mustards

A mustard condiment made with sardines, shallots, capers, garlic, vinegars, and mustard flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and capers match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 405 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

German Mustards

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Chop the sardines, shallots, capers, and garlic.

  2. Boil the chopped ingredients with the water for 10 minutes.

  3. Strain the mixture, pressing the residue well.

  4. Boil the vinegars and strained water together.

Make the mustard

  1. Let the liquid cool slightly, then mix in the mustard flour.

  2. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.

  3. Transfer the mixture to small pots or jars and seal.

  4. Let it stand for two weeks before using.

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. Shallot + caperstop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together405 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Capers + mustardtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together624 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Shallot + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together602 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Capers + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together379 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Shallot + mustardtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together859 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Mustard flour
Ground mustard seed that forms the body and sharp flavour of the mustard.
Tarragon vinegar
Adds acidity and a tangy, aromatic note that balances the mustard's heat.
Brown vinegar
Supplies acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the mixture.
Sardines
Contribute savoury depth and umami to the boiled base.
Capers
Add briny, sharp bursts of flavour through the mustard.

The step that matters

Let it stand for two weeks before using. Resting lets the sharp, raw edges of the mustard flour and vinegar mellow and blend into a rounder flavour. Using it too early leaves the mustard harsh and unbalanced.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shallot, capers, vinegar, tarragon, sugar, mustard, flour):

  1. Fennelfits better
  2. Dillfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shallot, capers, vinegar, tarragon, sugar, mustard, flour. 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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