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 ↓
Rough and Ready Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Slice six dozen cucumbers, half a peck of green tomatoes, one dozen bull-nose peppers, and one dozen silver-skin onions.
Salt them separately, and let them stand overnight.
Next morning, press them perfectly dry and mix together, having chopped the onions and peppers fine.
Pickle
Put half a tea-cup of black pepper, half a tea-cup of allspice, half a pound of white mustard seed, one ounce of celery seed, some horse-radish, and a few cloves.
Cover well with vinegar, and let it come to a boil.
To every gallon of the mixture put half a pound of brown sugar.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Cucumber | 1/2 cup sliced (52g) | 16 |
| Celery Seed | 1 stalk (40g) | 6 |
| Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| White Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
| Seed | not in our table | 0 |
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.
-
Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Mustard + cucumbertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,281 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cucumbers
- Forms the bulk of the pickle; salting and pressing draw out water so it stays crisp.
- White mustard seed
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour that mellows as the seeds sit in the vinegar.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Bull-nose peppers
- Adds mild pepper flavour, colour and body to the mixture.
- Silver-skin onions
- Adds savoury, pungent onion flavour and a firm bite.
- Celery seed
- Adds a warm, savoury celery aroma.
The step that matters
Pressing the salted vegetables dry. Any moisture left from the salting dilutes the vinegar and weakens the pickle, and wet vegetables stay soft rather than crisp. Pressing them thoroughly before mixing keeps the brine strong and the texture firm.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, mustard, sugar, cucumber, pepper):
- Lettucefits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Broccolifits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against celery, mustard, sugar, cucumber, pepper. 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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