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 ↓
Blanche Kammerer
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and cook
Peel the peaches.
Boil the sugar, vinegar and spices (tied in cheesecloth) for twenty minutes.
Remove the spices, put the peaches in the syrup and cook until soft, using one-half peaches at a time.
Seal
Seal while hot.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
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 |
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.
-
Cinnamon + clovetop 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).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and helps preserve the fruit.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the pickling syrup its sharp flavor and helps preserve the fruit.
- Peaches
- Form the main fruit, softening in the hot syrup to become tender.
- Cinnamon stick
- Adds warm aroma to the syrup.
- Whole cloves
- Add pungent, warm aroma to the syrup.
The step that matters
Seal while hot. Sealing the jars while the peaches and syrup are still hot helps create a vacuum seal as the contents cool. Sealing cooler contents gives a weaker seal and a higher risk of spoilage.
Swap the peach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, clove):
- Vanillafits better
- Quincefits better
- Figfits better
- Peachthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, clove. 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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