Why it works: Onion and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,259 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Sweet Tomato Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Slice one peck green tomatoes and one dozen onions.
Sprinkle salt through the layers, let stand overnight, then drain.
Rinse with cold water.
Cook and pack
Cook in clear vinegar until tender.
Drain and put in stone jars in layers, sprinkling each layer with a little whole allspice, cloves, and black pepper.
Make the syrup and finish
Boil one quart of vinegar, two pounds brown sugar, and one-half cup ground mustard, and pour over pickles.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
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Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + mustardtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,482 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Vinegar + oniontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,226 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Green tomatoes
- Form the bulk of the pickle and soften into a tender texture when cooked.
- Onions
- Add savory flavor and body that blends with the sweet-sour liquid.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that preserves and gives the pickles their sharp tang.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Ground mustard
- Contributes pungent, sharp flavor to the sweet pickling syrup.
The step that matters
Cook in clear vinegar until tender. Cooking stops at tender, not mushy; overcooked tomatoes and onions break down and turn soft and watery, while undercooked pieces stay firm and raw-tasting.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, onion, mustard):
- Horseradishfits better
- Broccolifits better
- Radishfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, onion, mustard. 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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