Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 ↓
Pickled Peaches
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peaches
Rub off the fuzz from the peaches and insert a stick of cinnamon and a clove into each peach.
Make the syrup
Combine one quart vinegar, one cup water, one ounce stick cinnamon, one-half ounce whole cloves, one-half ounce ground cinnamon, and four pounds sugar in a pot.
Boil the mixture, tasting the syrup, until it becomes heavy and sweet enough.
Before filling the jars, cook the juice until it becomes a heavy syrup that drips off a spoon like jelly.
If you run short of juice, make a little more so that there is enough to fill the jars.
Cook and jar
Add the peaches to the syrup, as many as can fit.
When the peaches become soft enough to pierce easily, place them in fruit jars and fill the jars with the syrup.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Peach | 1 medium (150g) | 59 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp ground (2.6g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Water | not in our table | 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.
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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Cinnamon + peachtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together625 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Clove + peachtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together280 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cinnamon and sugar 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
- Peaches
- The fruit that is cooked in the spiced syrup until soft enough to pierce easily.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and thickens it as it boils down into a heavy syrup.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that gives the pickled peaches their sharp, tangy flavor.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm aroma and spice flavor to the syrup and the peaches.
The step that matters
Thickening the syrup before filling the jars. Sugar syrup thickens as water evaporates and sugar concentrates during boiling. If the syrup is too thin, it will not coat the fruit well or hold its sweetness and preservation effect, so it should reach a heavy, jelly-like drip before filling the jars.
Swap the peach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, clove, cinnamon, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Quincefits better
- Figfits better
- Peachthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, clove, cinnamon, sugar. 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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