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Pickled Peppers

A method for pickling green, red, and yellow bell peppers in a brine and vinegar solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Pickled Peppers

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the peppers

  1. Make a small incision in each pepper and carefully remove the seeds without breaking them.

  2. Prepare a brine strong enough to float an egg.

  3. Pour the brine over the peppers.

  4. Let the peppers sit overnight.

  5. Drain the peppers the next morning.

  6. Wash the peppers carefully in cold water.

Pickle in vinegar

  1. In a porcelain kettle, bring 1 quart of vinegar to a boil.

  2. Pour the boiling vinegar over the peppers.

  3. Let the mixture cool.

  4. Drain the vinegar and discard it.

  5. If the vinegar is very strong, dilute it with an equal amount of cold water.

  6. Take enough fresh vinegar to cover the peppers.

  7. Bring the fresh vinegar to a boil.

  8. Pour the boiling fresh vinegar over the peppers.

  9. Let it cool before storing.

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. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Egg + vinegartop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and vinegar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,922 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

Green peppers
Form the main body of the pickle and carry the vinegar flavour.
Vinegar
Acidity that preserves the peppers and gives the pickle its sharp taste.
Brine
Salt draws water out of the peppers, firming them and seasoning them before pickling.

The step that matters

Removing the seeds without breaking the peppers. Each pepper must stay whole so the brine and vinegar can penetrate evenly and the peppers hold their shape while pickling. Tearing the skin lets them soften and lose texture.

“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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