Why it works: Vinegar and turmeric are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,214 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
To Make Yellow Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
In a pot, combine all the articles for the yellow pickle and pour boiling salt and water over them.
Let them stand for 48 hours.
On a clear hot day, press the water from the articles and lay them to dry in full sunshine on a table covered with a thick soft cloth.
Secure the corners of the cloth to prevent it from blowing over the articles.
Turn the articles frequently to help them dry and absorb the turmeric color.
One day of sunshine is enough to prepare them for the vinegar.
Once dried, place them in a pot of plain cold vinegar with a little turmeric.
Let them soak for two weeks to draw off the water and make them plump.
Transfer them to a clean pot and pour on the prepared vinegar, mixing the turmeric smoothly before adding it to the pickles.
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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Vinegar + turmerictop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,214 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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