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Dessert

Pickled Lemons

Pickled lemons are lemons preserved in a spiced vinegar solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Pickled Lemons

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove the gills from the lemons and place them in a tight, covered jar.

  2. Put all ingredients in a muslin bag and add to the jar.

Cook and rest

  1. Set the jar in a kettle of boiling water and let it cook until the lemons are tender.

  2. For best flavor, let the pickled lemons sit for three months before using.

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. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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
Their peel and pulp soften during cooking and aging, becoming tender and mellow.
Vinegar
Provides acidity that preserves the lemons and sharpens the flavor.
Cloves
Add a warm, sweet, pungent aroma to the spiced vinegar.
Nutmeg
Adds a warm, aromatic sweetness that rounds out the spice blend.
Mace
Contributes a delicate warm aroma similar to nutmeg.
Cayenne
Adds heat that sharpens the overall flavor of the pickle.

The step that matters

Cook until the lemons are tender. Heat softens the peel and pith so the lemons can absorb the spiced vinegar. Undercooked lemons stay firm and taste harsh, so test for tenderness rather than relying on time alone.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, vinegar, clove, nutmeg, mustard, onion):

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Cinnamonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, vinegar, clove, nutmeg, mustard, onion. 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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