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Spiced Vinegar

A vinegar infused with horseradish, celery seed, mustard seed, cinnamon, and optional spices, steeped for at least two weeks.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Spiced Vinegar

Ingredients

Directions

Make the vinegar

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large container.

  2. Stir well to dissolve the sugar and salt.

Steep and strain

  1. Let the mixture sit for at least 2 weeks, shaking occasionally.

  2. Strain the vinegar before 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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Horseradish + mustardtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,832 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 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

Vinegar
Acts as the liquid base and carries the sharp heat of the horseradish into the flavor.
Horseradish
Supplies the pungent, sharp heat that flavors the vinegar as it steeps.
Sugar
Balances the acidity and sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.
Mustard seed
Adds a pungent, slightly bitter note that deepens the flavor during steeping.

The step that matters

Letting the mixture steep for at least 2 weeks. Flavor compounds from horseradish and spices extract slowly into the vinegar, so a short steep gives a weak, harsh result. Shaking occasionally helps the ingredients stay in contact with the liquid.

Swap the clove

The recipe marks clove as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, horseradish, celery, sugar, mustard, cinnamon, nutmeg):

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Tarragonfits about as well
  3. Clovethe original
  4. Capersfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, horseradish, celery, sugar, mustard, cinnamon, nutmeg. 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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