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Pickled Peppers

Pickled peppers are preserved in a brine of vinegar, sugar, salt, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By North End Club (Chicago, Ill.) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 37 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,377 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Pickled Peppers

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the peppers

  1. Cut 2 dozen large green peppers in half and remove the seeds.

  2. Put peppers in strong salt water and leave overnight.

Stuff and pack

  1. Cut 1/2 small head of cabbage on a cabbage cutter; add 3 dozen small silver-skin onions, an ounce celery seed, and 2 tablespoonful grated horseradish.

  2. Drain the peppers and stuff with the cabbage mixture.

  3. Tie the halves together and place in a stone jar.

Pour and rest

  1. Heat 2 gallons cider vinegar with 2 teacup sugar to boiling point and pour over the peppers, leaving them uncovered until cool.

  2. Cover securely and put in a cool place.

  3. About the third day they will be ready to serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

211Calories
7 gProtein
2 gFat
48 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 16 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Broccoli1 cup chopped (156g)55
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Celery Seed1 stalk (40g)6
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Cidernot in our table0
Horseradishnot in our table0
Macenot 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 North End Club (Chicago, Ill.). 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. Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

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

  2. Allspice + horseradishtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together654 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

  4. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Horseradish + celerytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together835 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Green peppers
Their flesh softens during brining and pickling, becoming tender while holding its shape when stuffed.
Cider vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the peppers and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar, adding sweetness to the pickling liquid.
Cabbage
Forms the crisp, chopped filling that fills the peppers and adds texture.
Silver-skin onions
Add sharp, sweet onion flavour and crunch to the cabbage filling.

The step that matters

Pouring the hot vinegar over the peppers. The vinegar and sugar must reach a full boil before pouring, because the acid and heat together preserve the peppers. Leaving them uncovered while they cool lets steam escape, and the pickle is only sealed once it is covered securely.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, allspice, cider, horseradish, celery, pepper):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Radishfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, allspice, cider, horseradish, celery, 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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