Why it works: Corn and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 793 recipes mention both. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Make the relish
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil.
Cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Jar and process
Pour boiling hot mixture into hot pint jars, leaving ⅛ inch head space.
Adjust caps and process in boiling water bath 15 minutes.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Corn + carrottop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together793 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together10,172 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Celery + mustardtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,160 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Pepper + celerytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together16,001 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Carrot + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh corn
- Forms the bulk of the relish, providing sweetness and a tender-crisp texture.
- Cider vinegar
- Provides acidity that gives the relish its tang and helps preserve it.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity and adds sweetness to the relish.
- Carrots
- Add colour, mild sweetness and crunch to the mixture.
- White onions
- Add sharp aromatic flavour that mellows during simmering.
The step that matters
Process in boiling water bath 15 minutes. Holding jars in boiling water heats the contents enough to destroy spoilage microbes and create a seal. Too short a time or a weak boil can leave the relish unsafe to store.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, carrot, pepper, sugar, celery, mustard, cider):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, carrot, pepper, sugar, celery, mustard, cider. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.