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Preserve

Pickled Peppers

Green peppers are seeded, brined, stuffed with chopped cabbage and onion, and covered with spiced vinegar to pickle.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 24 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pickled Peppers

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the peppers

  1. Take large green peppers (the best variety is the sweet pepper).

  2. Make a small incision at the side of each pepper. Take out all the seeds, being careful not to mangle the peppers.

  3. Soak in brine that will float an egg for two days, changing the water twice.

Stuff and pickle

  1. Stuff with chopped cabbage and chopped onions, seasoned with mustard seed and spices. Sew up the incision.

  2. Place in a jar and cover with cold spiced vinegar.

  3. Many cut off the top of the red pepper, then tie it on again; when ready to be used, remove the top.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

175Calories
4 gProtein
1 gFat
41 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Plum1 medium (66g)30
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Horseradishnot in our table0

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

By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed. 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.

  1. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Horseradish + allspicetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together654 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Plum + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,480 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Horseradish + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Horseradish + clovetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Green peppers
Their hollow shells hold the stuffing and give the finished pickle its body.
Vinegar
Its acidity preserves the peppers and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
Onions
They add savoury flavour and moisture to the stuffing.

The step that matters

Soak in brine that will float an egg. The brine must be strong enough to draw water out of the peppers and firm them, so they keep their shape and do not turn soft during pickling. Changing the water keeps the salt strength consistent.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (horseradish, plum, sugar, clove, vinegar, allspice, tomato):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Cucumberfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against horseradish, plum, sugar, clove, vinegar, allspice, tomato. 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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