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Tarragon Vinegar

A vinegar infused with tarragon leaves, clarified with isinglass and cider.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Tarragon Vinegar

Ingredients

Directions

Infuse

  1. Place the tarragon leaves in a stone jar.

  2. Add the vinegar and let it ferment for 14 days.

  3. Strain the mixture through a flannel bag.

Clarify and bottle

  1. Dissolve the isinglass in the cider and add it to the strained vinegar.

  2. Transfer the mixture to a clean jar and let it sit until clear.

  3. Pour it off into small bottles, cork them tightly, and store in a dry place.

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. Vinegar + cidertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  2. Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,547 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Tarragon + cidertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together74 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Fresh tarragon leaves
Supply the main aroma and flavour that the vinegar takes up during steeping.
Vinegar
Acts as the solvent that extracts tarragon's aromatic compounds and gives the sharp, acidic base.
Isinglass
Fining agent that gathers suspended particles so they settle, leaving the vinegar clear.

The step that matters

Letting the vinegar sit until clear. Isinglass needs time to bind suspended particles and settle out. Pouring off too early leaves cloudiness in the finished vinegar.

Swap the tarragon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, cider):

  1. Allspicefits about as well
  2. Tarragonthe original
  3. Peppermintfits about as well
  4. Clovefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, cider. 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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