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Preserve

Chow Chow

A spiced pickle of green tomatoes, string beans, onions and cabbage, cooked in vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Women of the First Congregational Church (Marysville, Ohio) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,713 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Chow Chow

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Slice the tomatoes and let stand overnight in brine that will bear an egg.

  2. Squeeze out the brine.

  3. Chop the cabbage, onions and beans.

  4. Chop the tomatoes separately.

Mix and cook

  1. Mix with the spices.

  2. Put in a porcelain kettle and cover with vinegar.

  3. Boil three hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

135Calories
7 gProtein
1 gFat
29 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Broccoli1 cup chopped (156g)55
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Celery Seed1 stalk (40g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
White Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Seednot in our table0
Beannot 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 Women of the First Congregational Church (Marysville, Ohio). 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. Tomato + beanstop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,713 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Mustard + allspicetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,928 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Mustard + cabbagetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Mustard + beanstop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together852 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Green tomatoes
Form the bulk of the pickle; overnight brining draws out water so the pieces stay firmer.
Cabbage
Adds bulk and a crisp texture that holds up during the long boil.
Small white onions
Contribute savoury flavour and body to the mixed vegetables.
White mustard seed
Provides a sharp, pungent flavour that mellows during the long cooking.
Celery seed
Adds a savoury, aromatic note that rounds out the spices.
Allspice
Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavour to the pickle.

The step that matters

Overnight brining of the tomatoes. Salt in the brine draws water out of the tomato slices by osmosis, so they stay firmer and less watery in the pickle. The brine should be strong enough to bear an egg, and the brine must be squeezed out before mixing so the pickle does not dilute.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, celery, tomato, beans, onion, cabbage):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Garlicfits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, celery, tomato, beans, onion, cabbage. 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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