Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Pickled Pears
Ingredients
Directions
Put all the pears, sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, and cloves (ground) together and boil until the pears are tender.
Skim the pears out and let the syrup boil for half an hour longer.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Pear | 1 medium (178g) | 101 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp ground (2.6g) | 6 |
| 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.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Pear + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together600 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
-
Pear + clovetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together512 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Pears
- Provide the fruit that softens during cooking and absorbs the spiced syrup.
- Light brown sugar
- Sweetens the pickle and thickens the syrup as it cooks down.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and helps preserve the fruit.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm, sweet aroma to the syrup and the pears.
- Cloves
- Adds a strong, pungent spiced aroma to the syrup.
The step that matters
Skimming the pears out before the final boil. Pears left in the boiling syrup keep cooking and can turn mushy, so they are removed first. Boiling the syrup alone thickens it and concentrates the sugar and vinegar.
Swap the pear
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, clove):
- Vanillafits better
- Quincefits better
- Figfits about as well
- Pearthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, clove. 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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