Why it works: Cucumber and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,281 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Pickled Peppers
Ingredients
Directions
Make a small incision on the side of each large green pepper and remove all seeds carefully.
Soak the peppers in salt water for 1 to 2 days, changing the water twice.
Stuff the peppers with chopped cabbage or tomatoes seasoned with spices, or a mixture of nasturtiums, chopped onions, red cabbage, grapes, and cucumbers seasoned with mustard seed and a little mace.
Sew up the incision, place the peppers in a jar, and cover with cold spiced vinegar.
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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Cucumber + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,281 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + cabbagetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cabbage + cucumbertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together722 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 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
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, cabbage, onion, grape, cucumber, mustard, vinegar):
- Dillfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Garlicfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, cabbage, onion, grape, cucumber, mustard, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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