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Green Pickle

A pickled cucumber preserved in a strong brine, vinegar, spices, and sugar, then layered and boiled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and clove 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 ↓

Green Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Brine

  1. Place the pickles in a strong brine for three weeks, ensuring the brine is strong enough to float an egg.

  2. Drain the brine.

Freshen the pickles

  1. Pour boiling water over the pickles for three consecutive mornings.

  2. After the last boiling, soak the pickles in cold water for two days, changing the water each morning.

  3. Scald the pickles in a mixture of 1 quart vinegar and 2 quarts water for two mornings.

Pack and pickle

  1. Layer the pickles in a jar.

  2. Sprinkle powdered alum between layers on the first morning only.

  3. Pour the weakened vinegar over the pickles.

  4. Repeat with fresh vinegar for the next mornings.

  5. Fill jars with the prepared pickles.

  6. Pour seasoned boiling vinegar over them.

  7. To season 1 gallon of vinegar, mix brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, oil of cloves (or cloves), celery seed, red pepper, and grated horseradish.

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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pickles
The main food being preserved, softened and flavoured through the brining and scalding steps.
Coarse sea salt
Creates a strong brine that draws water out of the pickles and firms their texture.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the pickles and gives them their sharp flavour.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
Alum (in the method)
Helps the pickles stay firm and crisp during the repeated scalding.
Horseradish
Adds a pungent heat that gives the pickles a sharp, lingering bite.

The step that matters

Scalding and changing the water each morning. Repeated boiling and soaking gradually remove salt and bitterness from the pickles, so skipping or shortening these steps leaves them too salty or harsh. Brine strength must also be checked, since a weak brine will not preserve them.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, clove):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Turmericfits better
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, clove. 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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