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Flavored Vinegars

A vinegar infused with fresh herbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Flavored Vinegars

Ingredients

Directions

Infuse

  1. Place 3 ounces of your chosen herb into 1 gallon of sharp vinegar.

  2. Let the mixture stand for 10 days.

Strain and bottle

  1. Strain the vinegar to remove the herbs.

  2. Bottle the flavored vinegar for use.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Sage + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together507 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Sage + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Basil + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  5. Tarragon + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together148 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Sharp vinegar
Acts as the solvent that draws aromatic oils out of the herbs and gives the finished vinegar its acidity.
Fresh tarragon
Supplies aromatic oils that flavor the vinegar as it stands.
Fresh sweet basil
Supplies aromatic oils that flavor the vinegar as it stands.
Fresh green mint
Supplies aromatic oils that flavor the vinegar as it stands.

The step that matters

Letting the mixture stand. Aromatic compounds dissolve slowly into the vinegar over time. Straining too early leaves the flavor weak, so the full standing period is what gives the herbs time to release their aroma.

Swap the mint

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tarragon, basil, sage, thyme, marjoram, vinegar):

  1. Winter savoryfits better
  2. Rosemaryfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Mintthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tarragon, basil, sage, thyme, marjoram, 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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