Why it works: Cauliflower and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 687 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
Marie Paidar
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut into small pieces one-half peck pickles, one-half peck onions, one-half peck green tomatoes, one-quarter peck green beans, four heads cauliflower and four green peppers.
Put into salt water overnight.
Make the pickle
In the morning, put everything into two quarts vinegar and let it come to a boil.
Pour off the vinegar, then prepare one quart vinegar, a little sugar and three pints prepared mustard.
Let this come to a boil, then add the vegetables, mix well, and bottle very hot.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Broccoli | 1 cup chopped (156g) | 55 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Bell Pepper | 1 medium (119g) | 31 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 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.
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Cauliflower + mustardtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together687 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Cauliflower + green beanstop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together75 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Tomato + green beanstop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together113 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Mustard + green beanstop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together116 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
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that makes the pickle sharp and helps preserve the vegetables.
- Prepared mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour that carries through the whole pickle.
- Cauliflower
- Its firm florets hold their crunch through salting and simmering in hot vinegar.
- Green beans
- Their firm texture keeps some crispness after brining and pickling.
The step that matters
Bottle the pickle very hot. Filling the jars while the pickle is still very hot helps drive out air and aids a good seal, which supports keeping the pickle stable in storage.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cauliflower, vinegar, mustard, tomato, green beans):
- Cucumberfits better
- Broccolifits better
- Lettucefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cauliflower, vinegar, mustard, tomato, green beans. 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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