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Dessert

Sweet Pickled Peaches

A preserved peach dish made with sugar, vinegar, spices, and ginger, boiled and stored in jars.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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 ↓

Sweet Pickled Peaches

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the syrup

  1. Pare 7 pounds peaches, but do not stone.

  2. Put 4 pounds sugar on to boil with 1 pint vinegar; mix 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 2 teaspoons each ground allspice and cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon ground mace, and tie them up in 4 little muslin bags.

  3. Put these into the kettle and also 1 ounce ginger root.

  4. When the syrup is hot, add the peaches, bring all to the boiling point and turn carefully into a stone jar.

  5. Stand in a cool place overnight.

Scald over nine days

  1. For 9 consecutive days, pour off the syrup, bring it to the boil, and scald the peaches again.

  2. The last time, boil the liquor somewhat, add the fruit to it, bring the whole to a boil, and put in sealed or stone jars.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

123Calories
2 gProtein
1 gFat
30 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Peach1 medium (150g)59
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cloves1 tsp ground (2g)7
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3

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

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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. Peach + clovetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together280 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Peach + allspicetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together105 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  4. Vinegar + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,548 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  5. 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

Peaches
Provide the bulk, flavor and tender texture of the preserved fruit.
Sugar
Sweetens the syrup and, concentrated by boiling, helps preserve the fruit.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens flavor and helps keep the fruit stable.
Ground cloves
Contributes warm, aromatic spice flavor to the syrup.
Ground allspice
Adds a warm, peppery aroma to the syrup.

The step that matters

Repeat the scald each day. Boiling the syrup and fruit again each day lets heat penetrate and softens the peaches while concentrating the sugar and vinegar in the syrup. Skipping a day or under-boiling leaves the syrup weaker and less stable. Sealing hot into sealed or stone jars finishes the process.

Swap the peach

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

  1. Figfits better
  2. Orangefits better
  3. Quincefits better
  4. Peachthe original

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