Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Pickled Onions
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the brine
Peel and wash the onions.
Prepare a brine with 2 cups of coarse sea salt and 2 quarts of water.
Brine the onions
Soak the onions in the brine for 2 days.
Pour off the brine and cover the onions with fresh brine for another 2 days.
Remove the onions from the brine and wash them.
Pickle and pack
Pack the onions in jars and cover with hot vinegar mixed with cloves, cinnamon, and allspice.
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 + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Vinegar + allspicetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,548 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
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Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,386 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Onions (in the method)
- Main vegetable that softens and turns tender and mild during the salt brine and vinegar pickling.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the onions and seasons them during the brine soak.
- Hot vinegar
- Acidity that preserves the onions and gives them their sharp pickled flavor.
- Cloves
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor to the pickling vinegar.
- Cinnamon
- Adds sweet, woody aroma to the pickling vinegar.
- Allspice
- Adds a blended peppery, warm aroma to the pickling vinegar.
The step that matters
Rinsing after the brine. The onions must be washed after brining so excess salt does not carry into the jars and make the pickles overly salty. Salt draws water out and seasons deeply, so the rinse controls the final taste.
“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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