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Pickled Mangoes

A preserved mango dish preserved in brine, then filled with spices and sealed in jars with vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Horseradish and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,832 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Pickled Mangoes

Ingredients

Directions

Brine the mangoes

  1. Wash the mangoes.

  2. Rub them until smooth.

  3. Cut a piece out of the side of each mango.

  4. Remove all the seeds.

  5. Replace the piece.

  6. Tie it closely with thread.

  7. Make a brine with salt and water strong enough to float an egg.

  8. Submerge the mangoes in the brine.

  9. Cover them.

  10. Weigh them down to keep them under the liquid.

  11. Let them sit for 9 to 10 days.

  12. Wash them in clear water.

Simmer and dry

  1. Line the bottom of a kettle with leaves.

  2. Place the mangoes inside.

  3. Cover with water and cabbage leaves.

  4. Heat over a slow fire.

  5. Keep the water scalding hot without simmering.

  6. Once the mangoes turn a fine green, remove them.

  7. Dry them.

Fill and pickle

  1. Mix together horseradish, mustard seed, cloves, allspice, coriander seed, and garlic.

  2. Fill the mangoes with this mixture.

  3. Re-tie the piece.

  4. Place them in jars cut side up.

  5. Pour enough vinegar over the mangoes to cover them.

  6. Add sugar if desired.

  7. Tie them closely.

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. Horseradish + mustardtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,832 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Cabbage + horseradishtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together481 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Mustard + allspicetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,928 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,645 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

Mangoes
Main fruit that softens and absorbs the brine and spiced vinegar flavour.
Salt
Draws water out of the mangoes and seasons them during the brine stage.
Vinegar
Acid that preserves the mangoes and gives the pickle its sharp, tangy flavour.
Mustard seed
Adds pungent, sharp flavour that deepens as the pickle sits.
Garlic
Contributes pungent aroma and savoury depth to the filling.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.

The step that matters

Keeping the water scalding hot without simmering. Gentle heat softens the mangoes and turns the skin green without breaking them apart. A rolling boil can split the fruit and make it mushy, while water that is too cool will not soften it enough.

Swap the mango

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, horseradish, mustard, clove, allspice, coriander, garlic):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, horseradish, mustard, clove, allspice, coriander, garlic. 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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