Name: Musk Melon Pickle
Ingredients: 3 pounds of white sugar; 5 pounds; vinegar

Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Musk Melon Pickle

Ingredients

3 pounds of white sugar
5 pounds
vinegar

Directions

Prepare the melons

Take ripe musk melons, remove seeds and peel, cut into small pieces, and place them in a small jar.
Cover the melons with hot vinegar.
Let the melons stand until the next day.
Pour off the vinegar, heat it, and pour it back over the melons.
Repeat steps 3-4 until the fourth day.

Make the syrup and pickle

Weigh the melons; for every 5 pounds of melons, add 3 pounds of white sugar.
Add a quart of vinegar and spices to taste.
Tie the spices in a linen cloth and simmer until tender.
Remove the fruit and boil the syrup until there is just enough to cover the pickles.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

52Calories

0 gProtein

0 gFat

13 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 2 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3

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

By Hatfield (Mass.). Congregational Church. 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.

Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Musk melons (in the method): Provide the main fruit body that becomes tender and absorbs the sweet vinegar syrup.
White sugar: Sweetens the pickle and thickens the syrup as it boils down, helping preserve the fruit.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that gives the pickle its sharp flavour and helps preserve the melon.

“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.