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Salted Cucumbers

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Fennel and coriander match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 426 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Salted Cucumbers

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Wash and wipe the cucumbers, then let them dry for 24 hours in a warm, dry place.

  2. Warm a small cask that previously held white wine.

  3. Layer the bottom with cucumbers, chopped fennel, cherry leaves, and bruised coriander-seed.

  4. Continue layering until the cask is three-fourths full.

  5. Pour in boiled and cooled salted water, then close the cask carefully.

  6. Place the cask in a cool place on two pieces of wood.

  7. As the water is absorbed, refill with cold boiled water.

  8. Turn the cask daily and scrape off any mold that forms on the exterior.

  9. After 2-3 months, remove the cover and place weights on the cucumbers to keep them submerged.

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. Fennel + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together426 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Cucumber + coriandertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together875 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Fennel + cherrytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together70 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Cucumber + cherrytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together331 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Cucumber + fenneltop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together126 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the cherry

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, fennel, coriander):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Avocadofits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Cherrythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, fennel, coriander. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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