Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Ripe Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cucumbers
Peel and cut the cucumbers into thick slices.
Cover the slices with a weak brine made from 1 cup of salt and 2 quarts of water.
Let the cucumbers soak overnight.
Drain the cucumbers in a colander.
Make the pickling syrup
In a pot, combine 3 pounds of sugar, 1 quart of cider vinegar, and the mixed spices (peppercorns, allspice, cloves, and mace in a muslin bag).
Boil the mixture until slightly thickened, then pour it over the cucumbers.
Pickle and jar
Boil the cucumbers in enough sweetened vinegar to cover them.
Once the mixture is clear, drain the cucumbers again and place them in a large bowl.
Let the cucumbers stand for one day before transferring them to jars.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
-
Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
-
Allspice + macetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,189 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
-
Cucumber + allspicetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together501 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cucumbers
- Provide the crisp-textured body of the pickle, which softens during the long brine and boil.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharp vinegar and helps preserve the pickle.
- Cider vinegar
- Provides the acidity that sharpens flavor and keeps the pickles preserved.
- Sea salt
- Draws water out of the cucumbers during the brine, firming their texture.
The step that matters
Boiling the cucumbers in the sweetened vinegar. Boiling too long turns the cucumber slices soft and mushy. Heat draws in the syrup gradually, so stop once the mixture turns clear and the slices are tender but still firm.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, sugar, cider, vinegar, allspice, clove):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, sugar, cider, vinegar, allspice, 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.
More cucumber pickles recipes
You might also like
Ham in Cider10 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.