Why it works: Cabbage and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,645 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Mixed Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Chop the onions, green peppers, cucumbers, and cabbage finely.
Let the chopped vegetables stand for one hour.
Put the vegetables in a bag and hang them all night to drain.
In the morning, cover the drained vegetables with cold vinegar and let stand for twenty-four hours.
Drain the vegetables again all night.
Make the pickle
Scald enough strong cider vinegar with spices tied in a muslin bag and sweeten to taste.
Drain the pickle for the last time.
Before adding the hot vinegar, add black and white mustard seed and celery seed according to your judgment.
Pour the hot vinegar over the pickle, and put something over the jar to keep the steam in.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Broccoli | 1 cup chopped (156g) | 55 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| 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.
-
Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,001 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 gives it a crisp, firm texture.
- Onions
- Adds pungent flavor that mellows during the long soak in vinegar.
- Green peppers
- Adds crunch and a fresh, grassy flavor to the pickle.
- Cucumbers (in the method)
- Contributes crisp texture and body to the pickled mixture.
- Vinegar
- Acidity preserves the vegetables and gives the pickle its tangy flavor.
The step that matters
Draining the vegetables thoroughly. Salting-free pickling relies on removing excess water so the vinegar is not diluted and the vegetables stay crisp rather than soggy. Repeated draining before the hot vinegar is added matters for both texture and keeping the brine strong.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, pepper, vinegar, mustard):
- Horseradishfits better
- Radishfits better
- Broccolifits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, pepper, vinegar, 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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