Why it works: Mustard and vinegar 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 ↓
Made Mustard
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, mix the ground mustard, flour, sugar, and salt thoroughly.
Pour in the boiling water and mix until you have a smooth, thick paste.
Add the vinegar and stir until well combined.
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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Mustard + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,424 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ground mustard
- Provides the main mustard flavour and the sharp heat of the condiment.
- Flour
- Thickens the mixture into a paste and gives it body.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and stabilises the finished mustard.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar and mustard with sweetness.
The step that matters
Pour in the boiling water and mix to a smooth paste. Ground mustard releases its pungent heat only when moistened, and the heat develops further as it stands. Water that is too cool or mixing that is left lumpy can leave a flat or uneven texture, so the paste should be smooth before the vinegar goes in.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, vinegar):
- Mustardthe original
- Arrowrootfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
- Beetrootfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, vinegar. 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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