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Preserve

Yellow Pickle

A pickle of cabbage, cucumbers and onions, salted, dripped, and seasoned with spices and turmeric in a vinegar and sugar liquid.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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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 ↓

Yellow Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Put in a basket a layer of each of the cucumbers, onions and cabbage, then a layer of salt.

  2. Hang up to drip for twenty-four hours.

Season and pickle

  1. Add ground cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, white and black mustard, and mace to taste.

  2. Add turmeric enough to color.

  3. Boil the sugar and vinegar together.

  4. Pour over four mornings.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

191Calories
6 gProtein
1 gFat
43 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Broccoli1 cup chopped (156g)55
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Macenot in our table0

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

By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo. 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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cabbage + cucumbertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together722 recipes

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

  5. Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 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

Cabbage
Forms the bulk of the pickle and absorbs the brine and spices as it sits.
Vinegar
Provides the sour acidity that preserves the pickle and gives it its sharp flavor.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.
Cucumbers
Adds crisp texture and fresh body to the mix.
Onions
Adds sharp, savory flavor that mellows during pickling.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, vinegar, sugar, cucumber, cinnamon, clove, ginger):

  1. Radishfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Beetrootfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, vinegar, sugar, cucumber, cinnamon, clove, ginger. 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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