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Preserve

Piccalilli or Chow-chow

A preserved relish of green tomatoes, onions and celery, flavoured with spices, sugar and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Norton, Caroline Trask · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Piccalilli or Chow-chow

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop or slice the tomatoes.

  2. Sprinkle the salt over them and let stand overnight.

  3. In the morning, drain off the water.

  4. Chop the onion and celery.

Combine and cook

  1. Place all in a porcelain-lined kettle.

  2. Sprinkle with sugar.

  3. Tie the spices in a bag.

  4. Add the spices and the vinegar.

  5. Cook slowly all day.

Store

  1. Put in jars or earthen crock.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

111Calories
2 gProtein
0 gFat
26 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Seednot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Norton, Caroline Trask. 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. 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.

  1. Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Vinegar + oniontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Vinegar
Provides acidity that preserves the vegetables and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar and helps the flavours blend.
Celery
Adds crisp, fresh vegetable texture and a savoury note to the pickle.
Onions
Adds savoury flavour and body to the mixture as it cooks down.
Whole allspice
Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour that infuses into the vinegar during cooking.

The step that matters

Cook slowly all day. Gentle, long cooking lets the vinegar and sugar penetrate the vegetables and concentrate the flavours. Higher heat risks scorching the sugar and turning the vegetables mushy.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, celery, mustard, vinegar, onion):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Garlicfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, celery, mustard, vinegar, onion. 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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