Why it works: Cider and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓
Cucumber Sweet Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cucumbers
Slice cucumbers about one inch thick.
Boil the sliced cucumbers for an hour in weak alum water.
Remove cucumbers and lay them in cold water until perfectly cold.
Boil the cucumbers again in fresh alum water for half an hour.
Drain the cucumbers well.
Make the syrup and pickles
Make a syrup by mixing one pound of sugar with each pound of fruit.
Add one pound of cider vinegar to the syrup.
Boil the syrup with the fruit until it becomes transparent.
Add mace to the mixture.
If the syrup is not thick enough, continue to boil it after the fruit is removed.
Finish
When cold, sprinkle some white mustard seed over the pickles.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 5 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Fruit | not in our table | 0 |
| Cider | not in our table | 0 |
| Mace | 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.
-
Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Cider + macetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together658 recipes
-
Vinegar + macetop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,415 recipes
-
Sugar + cidertop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,308 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cucumbers (in the method)
- Form the pickle itself, becoming tender and translucent as they cook in the syrup.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, with the cooked syrup, helps preserve the pickles.
- Cider vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the pickles their tangy flavour and helps preserve them.
- Alum (in the method)
- Firms the cucumber flesh so it stays crisp through the long cooking.
The step that matters
Boiling the syrup with the fruit until transparent. Too short a boil leaves the syrup thin and the fruit under-cooked, while over-boiling can make it tough and sticky. Watching for transparency and thickness helps the syrup reach the right concentration to preserve the pickles.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cider, vinegar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Peppermintfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cider, vinegar. 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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