Why it works: Horseradish and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,832 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pickles
Parboil the pickles in vinegar, then let them cool completely.
Pour scalding hot vinegar over the cooled pickles.
Dissolve a small lump of alum in the vinegar to make the pickles crisp and green.
Flavor and store
For added flavor, use cloves and cinnamon in bags, along with bits of horseradish and peppers.
Store pickles in a dry, cool place in stone or glass jars, keeping them covered with vinegar.
If white specks appear on the vinegar, drain and scald it, adding a handful of sugar for each gallon.
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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Horseradish + mustardtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,832 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Cinnamon + horseradishtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together515 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Clove + horseradishtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,245 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Good sharp vinegar
- Provides the acidity that preserves the pickles and keeps them covered in brine.
- A small lump of alum
- Helps the pickles stay firm and crisp during processing.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar and adds sweetness.
- Cloves
- Adds warm spice aroma that flavors the vinegar.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm, sweet spice aroma that flavors the vinegar.
- Horseradish
- Adds a sharp, pungent flavor to the pickling liquid.
The step that matters
Let the pickles cool completely before pouring on vinegar. Pouring hot vinegar over the pickles only after they have cooled keeps them firm; adding the pickles to very hot liquid can soften them and leave them mushy.
Swap the horseradish
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, clove, cinnamon, pepper, mustard):
- Horseradishthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Shallotfits less well
- Radishfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, clove, cinnamon, pepper, mustard. 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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