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Pepper Mangoes

A brined and stuffed pepper filled with cabbage and cucumber, then preserved in vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and cabbage are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Pepper Mangoes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the peppers

  1. Cut a slit in the peppers and remove the seeds.

  2. Sew the slit closed.

Brine and soak

  1. Soak the peppers in brine for several weeks.

  2. After brining, soak the peppers in clear water for 24 hours.

  3. Scald the peppers in vinegar.

  4. Let the peppers stand for three days.

Stuff and pack

  1. Prepare the stuffing by mixing chopped cabbage and small cucumbers.

  2. Stuff the peppers and stitch them closed.

  3. Place the stuffed peppers in a jar.

  4. Boil the leftover spices in 1 quart of vinegar.

  5. Pour the hot vinegar over the peppers.

  6. Fill the jar with cold cider vinegar.

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 + cabbagetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Cabbage + cucumbertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together722 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Vinegar + cidertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  4. Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,734 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  5. Pepper + cucumbertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,991 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Cabbage
Forms the crisp, crunchy filling that stays firm through the long brining.
Small cucumbers
Adds crunch and mild flavor to the stuffing.
Vinegar
Acidity preserves the peppers and gives them their sharp, tangy taste.

The step that matters

Scald the peppers in vinegar. Peppers must be fully brined and soaked in clear water first; the vinegar step relies on that preparation. Too little soaking leaves them salty or sour, and the acid works best on peppers already softened by the earlier steps.

Swap the cucumber

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, cabbage, vinegar, cider):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Cauliflowerfits about as well
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Cucumberthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, cabbage, vinegar, cider. 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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