Why it works: Mushroom and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,070 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓
Mushrooms
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the small mushrooms in spring water and rub them with a piece of new flannel dipped in salt.
Place them in cold water to maintain their color.
Cook and pickle
Put the mushrooms in a saucepan and sprinkle a handful of salt over them.
Cover the saucepan and heat over the fire for 4 to 5 minutes until thoroughly hot and the liquid is drawn out.
Lay the mushrooms between two clean cloths until they cool.
Transfer the mushrooms to glass bottles and fill them with distilled 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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Mushroom + vinegartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,070 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Small mushrooms
- The main ingredient, which softens with heat and takes on the flavor of the salt and vinegar.
- Salt
- Draws liquid out of the mushrooms during heating, concentrating their flavor and seasoning them.
- Distilled vinegar
- Adds sourness and acidity, lowering the pH so the pickled mushrooms keep better.
The step that matters
Heating with salt until the liquid is drawn out. Salt pulls water out of the mushrooms through osmosis. Heating them until thoroughly hot lets this liquid release, so the mushrooms are cooked through and ready to drain before bottling.
“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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