Name: Caetelope Pickles
Ingredients: one quart of the vinegar to each quart remaining; three pounds sugar to a dozen cantelopes; three ounces stick cinnamon; two ounces cloves; two ounces of allspice

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Caetelope Pickles

Ingredients

one quart of the vinegar to each quart remaining
three pounds sugar to a dozen cantelopes
three ounces stick cinnamon
two ounces cloves
two ounces of allspice

Directions

Prepare

Take fine ripe cantaloupes, wash, pare, and cut into small pieces, removing the seeds.
Cover them with vinegar for twenty-four hours.

Make the syrup

Throw away one quart of the vinegar for each quart remaining.
Add three pounds sugar to a dozen cantaloupes, three ounces stick cinnamon, two ounces cloves, and two ounces allspice (spices whole).
Boil them with the vinegar.

Cook and pack

When well skimmed, put in the fruit.
Boil fifteen minutes.
Then take out the fruit, boil and skim the syrup, and pour it boiling hot over the fruit.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

70Calories

0 gProtein

0 gFat

18 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3

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

By Home for the Friendless (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.

Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,874 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,536 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Vinegar + allspicetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,548 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Cantaloupe (in the method): Forms the bulk of the pickle and absorbs the spiced, sweet syrup.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that sharpens flavor and helps preserve the fruit.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and builds the syrup that preserves and glazes the fruit.
Stick cinnamon: Contributes warm, sweet aroma to the syrup.
Cloves: Contributes strong, warm aroma to the syrup.
Allspice: Contributes warm, peppery aroma to the syrup.

Swap the clove

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

Clovethe original
Nutmegfits about as well
Gingerfits less well
Cardamomfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, allspice. 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.