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Cecelia Bart a

A relish made with corn, cabbage, peppers, onions, mustard, vinegar, sugar, salt, and turmeric.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Cecelia Bart a

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Cut corn from cob, chop cabbage, peppers and onions.

Make the brine

  1. Put vinegar to boil, add sugar and salt.

  2. Wet mustard and turmeric with cold vinegar to make a paste.

  3. Add paste to vinegar and stir until smooth.

Cook and seal

  1. Add vegetables and cook one-half hour.

  2. One tablespoon of celery seed may be added.

  3. Seal hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

243Calories
8 gProtein
2 gFat
54 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Broccoli1 cup chopped (156g)55
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Celery Seed1 stalk (40g)6
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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

By Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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. Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

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

  4. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Corn
Adds sweetness and crisp-tender bulk to the relish.
Cabbage
Provides crunch and body that holds up through the cooking.
Onions
Adds savory depth and aroma as they soften in the vinegar.
Green peppers
Contribute fresh, slightly bitter vegetable flavor and texture.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that gives the relish its tang and preserves it.
Sugar
Balances the vinegar's sharpness with sweetness.

The step that matters

Wet mustard and turmeric with cold vinegar to make a paste. Mustard and turmeric clump if dumped into hot liquid. Mixing them into a smooth paste with cold vinegar first lets them disperse evenly, so the brine turns uniformly colored and smooth rather than streaky.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, vinegar, sugar, celery, corn, pepper, mustard):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Horseradishfits better
  3. Lettucefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, vinegar, sugar, celery, corn, pepper, mustard. 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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