Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Lemon Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very slack oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the lemons
Grate the rind of the lemons, avoiding the white part underneath.
Peel off the white part of the lemons.
Cut the lemons in half and make cuts towards the middle.
Rub the lemons with the coarse sea salt.
Let the lemons dry in a 300°F (150°C) oven until the juice is absorbed.
Pickle
Place the lemons in a jar with mustard seeds, garlic, mace, cloves, and nutmeg in a muslin bag.
Pour boiling white wine vinegar over the lemons.
Seal the jar.
Let the jar sit by the fire for one week, shaking it four to five times daily.
Secure the jar with bladder and leather.
Let the jar sit for four to five months until the bitter flavor is lost.
Strain and bottle
Press the lemons to extract the liquid.
Pass the liquid through a hair sieve to extract the liquid.
Let the liquid settle for 24 hours.
Pour the liquid off through muslin into bottles.
Cork the bottles.
Seal the bottles with sealing wax.
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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Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Mustard + garlictop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,053 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Mace + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lemons
- Provide the sharp citrus flavor and the aromatic rind that carries the pickle's character.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the lemons and helps begin the preserving process.
- Mustard seeds
- Add a pungent, sharp background flavor to the pickle liquid.
- Garlic
- Adds pungent aroma and savory depth to the pickling liquid.
- White wine vinegar
- Acidity preserves the lemons and extracts their flavor into the liquid.
The step that matters
Drying the lemons until the juice is absorbed. Salted lemons that stay wet dilute the vinegar and can spoil. Drying concentrates the lemon and helps the pickle keep and develop flavor during the long maturing period.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, mustard, garlic, clove, nutmeg, white wine, vinegar):
- Tarragonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Allspicefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, mustard, garlic, clove, nutmeg, white wine, vinegar. 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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