Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Sliced Green Tomato Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Slice the green tomatoes thin, sprinkle them with one cup salt, let stand overnight, drain off next morning.
Take one quart vinegar and two of water; boil tomatoes and onions five minutes.
Drain through colander.
Make the pickle
Put together four quarts vinegar, two pounds brown sugar, one-half pound ground mustard, two tablespoons cloves, two of cinnamon, six green peppers chopped.
Pour over the tomatoes and boil fifteen minutes.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
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.
-
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mustard + clovetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,829 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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 as they cook in the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Provides the sour, acidic liquid that preserves and sharpens the pickle.
- Brown sugar
- Balances the acidity of the vinegar with sweetness and adds depth.
- Salt
- Draws water out of the sliced tomatoes so they stay firmer in the pickle.
- Onions
- Add savoury flavour and body as they soften in the spiced vinegar.
The step that matters
Salting and draining the tomatoes overnight. Salt draws moisture out of the sliced tomatoes through osmosis. Draining well removes that liquid, which keeps the pickle firmer and stops it from becoming watery.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, mustard, clove, onion, pepper):
- Horseradishfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, mustard, clove, onion, pepper. 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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