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Watermelon Pickle

A pickled watermelon rind preserved in a vinegar-sugar syrup with cloves and cinnamon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 ↓

Watermelon Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rind

  1. Cook 10 pounds of watermelon rind in clear water until tender.

  2. Drain for 5 hours.

Make the syrup

  1. Make a syrup of 1 quart vinegar, 1/2 ounce whole cloves, 2 lbs white sugar, and 1 ounce cinnamon.

  2. Boil the syrup and spices.

Pickle and seal

  1. Drop the syrup into the watermelon rind and heat thoroughly.

  2. Can and seal.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

62Calories
1 gProtein
0 gFat
15 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Watermelon1 cup diced (152g)46
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Waternot 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 Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog]. 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 + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Vinegar + cinnamontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

What each ingredient does

Watermelon rind
Forms the bulk of the pickle and absorbs the spiced syrup as it cooks.
Vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that gives the syrup its tang and helps preserve the pickle.
White sugar (in the method)
Sweetens the syrup and balances the acidity of the vinegar.
Whole cloves
Contribute warm, aromatic spice flavor to the syrup.
Cinnamon
Adds warm, sweet aroma and flavor to the syrup.

The step that matters

Heat the syrup and rind thoroughly. Hot syrup must penetrate the rind fully so the pickle is heated evenly before canning. Thorough heating helps the jars seal properly and keeps the pickle stable.

Swap the cinnamon

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

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Cinnamonthe original
  3. Tarragonfits less well
  4. Cardamomfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, 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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