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Papaya Pickle

A pickled papaya dish made with sugar, vinegar, cloves, pepper, and papaya pieces.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Alexander, Agnes B. (Agnes Baldwin), 1875-1970 · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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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 ↓

Papaya Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Make syrup of 1 measured sugar and 14 measure vinegar.

  2. Add a few whole cloves and pepper corns and 2 measures of half ripe papaya cut into small pieces.

  3. Boil until tender.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

65Calories
0 gProtein
0 gFat
16 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Papayanot 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 Alexander, Agnes B. (Agnes Baldwin), 1875-1970. 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. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Papaya + clovetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together15 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Papaya + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together60 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Papaya
Provides the main bulk and, once boiled, the tender texture of the pickle.
Sugar
Sweetens the syrup and balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that preserves and gives the pickle its tangy flavour.

The step that matters

Boil until tender. Boiling softens the papaya so it absorbs the sweet-sour syrup. Stopping too early leaves it firm and under-flavoured, while overcooking can turn the pieces mushy.

Swap the papaya

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, clove, pepper):

  1. Cherryfits better
  2. Lemonfits better
  3. Limefits better
  4. Papayathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, clove, 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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