Why it works: Mustard and turmeric match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,279 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Mix sugar, flour, dry mustard, and turmeric until free from lumps.
Boil the mixture until it thickens.
Add vegetables and boil for an additional 15 minutes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + turmerictop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,279 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Flour + turmerictop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,637 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Thickens the mixture as its starch swells and sets when heated with liquid.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Dry mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour that gives the dressing its bite.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that gives the dressing its tangy flavour.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture until it thickens. Flour thickens only when its starch is heated to boiling, and the starch needs time to swell fully. Stirring keeps the mixture smooth and stops it scorching on the base of the pan.
Swap the turmeric
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, mustard, vinegar):
- Capersfits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Turmericthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, mustard, 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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