Why it works: Tomato and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,913 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Slice one gallon of tomatoes thin and slice six onions.
Sprinkle the sliced tomatoes and onions with salt and let them remain overnight.
Take them out and let them drain until evening.
Season and pack
Add six moderate-sized green peppers chopped fine, three tablespoons of ground mustard, half pint white mustard seed, one tablespoon of cloves, the same amount of allspice and black pepper, and mix together.
Pack the mixture in a jar, cover with vinegar, and after one month it is fit for use.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Tomato + peppertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together17,913 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together7,711 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pepper + allspicetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pepper + clovetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together13,144 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Mustard + allspicetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,928 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Green tomatoes
- Form the bulk of the pickle and, once salted and drained, give a firm, crisp texture.
- Onions
- Add savory flavor and moisture that mingles with the vinegar as the pickle matures.
- Green peppers
- Contribute fresh, slightly bitter vegetable flavor and crunch to the pickle.
- Ground mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent heat that gives the pickle its characteristic bite.
- White mustard seed
- Provides pungent flavor and a slight crunch that stands up to the vinegar.
The step that matters
Salting and draining the tomatoes and onions overnight. Salt draws water out of the sliced vegetables by osmosis. Removing that water before packing keeps the pickle crisp rather than soggy and lets the vinegar penetrate evenly.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, mustard, pepper, clove, allspice):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Horseradishbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, mustard, pepper, clove, allspice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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