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Green Pickle

A method for making green pickles using brine, vinegar, spices, and alum.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 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

Cure the pickles

  1. Soak the pickles in strong brine for three weeks, ensuring they are always covered.

  2. Drain the brine and pour boiling water over the pickles for three consecutive mornings.

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

  4. Scald the pickles in weak vinegar for three mornings, using a mixture of 2 quarts water to 1 quart vinegar.

Pack and season

  1. Layer the pickles in a jar, sprinkling powdered alum on the first layer only, then fill the jar and pour on the weakened vinegar.

  2. To season one gallon of vinegar, mix 3 pounds brown sugar, 1 tablespoon each of allspice, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, 20 drops oil of cloves or 3 ounces cloves, 1 ounce celery seed, 1 pod red pepper, and 2 tablespoons grated horseradish.

  3. Fill jars with the prepared pickles and pour over them boiled seasoned vinegar.

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 cured, softened and changed by the brine and vinegar treatments.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and depth that balances the sharp vinegar.
Best vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves and flavours the pickles.
Powdered alum
Helps the pickles stay firm and crisp during the long curing.
Cloves
Contribute warm aromatic flavour to the spiced vinegar.

The step that matters

Keep the pickles fully covered in strong brine for three weeks. Any pickle exposed to air can soften or spoil during the long brine cure, because the salt and acid must act evenly on every surface.

Swap the ginger

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

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cardamomfits about as well
  3. Gingerthe original
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, vinegar, sugar, allspice, cinnamon, 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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