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 ↓
Pickled Peaches
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peaches
Take nice fair peaches, wipe them clean with a woolen cloth and place them in a stone jar.
Make the pickle
For seven pounds of fruit, take three pounds nice yellow coffee sugar, one pint good cider vinegar, three ounces cinnamon in sticks, one ounce cloves.
Boil the sugar, vinegar and spices together and pour over the fruit while hot.
Cover them and let them stand three days.
Pour off again; bring to a boil.
Then put the fruit and all together and boil till they are transparent.
Set away in a cool, dry place.
Note
Sweet apples may be pickled in the same way.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 5 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Fruit | not in our table | 0 |
| Cider | 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).
-
Cider + clovetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,683 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,386 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + clovetop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together17,182 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and clove barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 17,182 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Peaches (in the method)
- The fruit that is preserved and becomes tender and flavored by the syrup.
- Coffee sugar
- Sweetens the pickle and helps preserve the fruit.
- Cider vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the pickle its tang and helps preserve the fruit.
- Cinnamon (in the method)
- Adds warm, sweet aroma to the syrup and fruit.
- Cloves
- Adds warm, pungent aroma to the syrup and fruit.
The step that matters
Boil the fruit until transparent. Boiling must be long enough to draw the syrup into the fruit so it turns clear and tender, but not so long that the peaches fall apart and become mushy.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cider, vinegar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Peppermintfits about as well
- Clovethe 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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