Why it works: Cabbage and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,645 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Chopped Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Combine chopped green tomatoes, cabbage, onions, green peppers, and red peppers in a vessel.
Cover with water, add coarse sea salt, and let stand overnight.
In the morning, drain the mixture in a bag for 24 hours.
Add white mustard seed to the drained vegetables.
Make the pickle and jar it
In a separate pot, boil vinegar and brown sugar until hot.
Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the chopped vegetables.
Cook the mixture on the stove for about 15 minutes.
Transfer to jars and seal while hot.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 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).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,001 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
- Green tomatoes
- Supply the bulk of the chopped body and tart, fresh flavor of the pickle.
- Cabbage
- Adds crisp texture and bulk that holds up through cooking.
- Vinegar
- Acidity that preserves the vegetables and gives the pickle its sharp tang.
- Brown sugar
- Sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar and adds depth.
- White mustard seed
- Adds a sharp, pungent flavor and a little crunch to the pickle.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the vegetables, firming them and reducing excess moisture.
The step that matters
Draining the salted vegetables. Salt draws water out of the vegetables through osmosis. Draining them fully for 24 hours removes that liquid, so the pickle stays crisp and does not dilute the vinegar.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, onion, pepper, mustard, vinegar, sugar):
- Horseradishfits better
- Broccolifits better
- Radishfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, onion, pepper, mustard, vinegar, sugar. 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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