Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
To Make Mustard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mustard
Mix the mustard flour with boiling water until thick and smooth.
Add salt and store in a small jar, tightly covered.
Serve
For immediate use, mix mustard with new milk gradually until smooth, then add raw cream.
Optionally, add sugar to enhance flavor.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Mustard + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Durham mustard flour
- Provides the pungent mustard flavor and the bulk that thickens the paste.
- Boiling water
- Hydrates the mustard flour so it swells into a thick, smooth paste.
- New milk
- Loosens the paste for immediate use and mellows its sharpness.
- Raw cream
- Adds richness and a smoother, rounder mouthfeel to the mustard.
The step that matters
Mix the mustard flour with boiling water until thick and smooth. Mustard flavor develops from enzymes and volatile compounds released when the flour is moistened, and their pungency fades with heat and time. Using boiling water to hydrate the flour and mixing thoroughly prevents lumps and dry pockets, so the paste reaches a uniform texture and consistent heat.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, cream, sugar):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Potatofits better
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, cream, sugar. 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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