Drink

Cooksey Bros

Name: Cooksey Bros
Ingredients: two pounds of sugar to two quarts of vinegar; one gallon vinegar add half ounce mace; quarter ounce cloves; three tablespoons salt; half teaspoon alum; two pounds sugar to three pounds fruit; two cups vinegar; one pint of good vinegar; two quarts of vinegar; three nights; two mornings; one vessel; five pounds sugar to every seven of fruit; vinegar; mace; cloves; salt

A collection of pickle recipes from Cooksey Bros, including onion pickle, spiced plums, and spiced grapes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription

By Jackson (Tenn.). First Baptist Church. The Silver Thimble Society · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients

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Why it works: Mace and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,400 recipes. Both carry methyleugenol, which smells clove, spice. The science ↓

Cooksey Bros

Ingredients

Directions

Pickle the onions

Put silver‑skinned onions in a salty brine for three nights.
Take them out and soak in clear water for half a day.
Peel and boil small onions in milk and water for ten minutes.
Drain off milk and water.

Make the spiced vinegar

To one gallon vinegar add half ounce mace, one‑quarter ounce cloves, three tablespoons salt, half teaspoon alum, when boiling hot.
Put vinegar on to boil with red and black pepper and mace.
Let this come to a boil.
Drop onions in until hot through.
Put them into jar.
Then for two mornings more, put vinegar into kettle and let it come to a boil.
Pour over onions, not taking onions out.
Add the spiced vinegar to onions and seal in jars.

Make the plum pickle

Use the plum pulp after making jelly.
Separate the pulp and skin, preserving the skin.
Boil the skin in one vessel and the pulp in another.
Run the pulp through a sieve to get out the seed.
Add two pounds sugar to three pounds fruit, two cups vinegar and spices to taste.
Boil for half an hour.
Add the skin to the pulp and boil with the sugar, vinegar and spices.
Use one pint of good vinegar and five pounds sugar to every seven of fruit.
Add a tablespoon each of cloves, cinnamon and spice.
Boil.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

59Calories

0 gProtein

0 gFat

14 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 6 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Mace	not in our table	0
Fruit	not in our table	0

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

By Jackson (Tenn.). First Baptist Church. The Silver Thimble Society. 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.

Mace + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,400 recipes

Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,386 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Vinegar + macetop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,415 recipes
Sugar + clovetop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together17,182 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Sugar and clove barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 17,182 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

Vinegar: Acts as the preserving liquid that keeps the pickles acidic and shelf-stable.
Sugar: Balances the sharp acidity of the vinegar and adds sweetness to the fruit pickle.
Salt: Draws moisture from the onions in brine and seasons the pickling liquid.