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Sweet Tomato Pickle

A pickle of green tomatoes preserved in a sweet and spiced vinegar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Elizabeth Lyles Wilson (1860–1924) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and clove 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 ↓

Sweet Tomato Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the tomatoes

  1. Slice six pounds green tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and let stand overnight.

  2. Squeeze out of the brine and soak in fresh water several hours.

  3. Boil the tomatoes in strong ginger tea for half an hour, then drain out of the tea.

Make the pickle

  1. Combine one quart good vinegar, three pounds white sugar, one ounce cinnamon sticks, one-half ounce cloves, one-half ounce mace, two pounds seeded raisins and three-fourths pounds homemade citron cut in small squares.

  2. Boil all together for one-half hour, put in quart jars, and boil the syrup until thick and pour it over the pickle.

  3. Seal tight.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

149Calories
2 gProtein
1 gFat
37 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Macenot 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 Mary Elizabeth Lyles Wilson (1860–1924). 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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Clove + raisintop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  5. Cinnamon + macetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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 and, once salted and rinsed, hold their shape in the syrup.
White sugar
Adds sweetness and, as it thickens the syrup, helps preserve the pickle.
Vinegar
Provides acidity that gives the pickle its tang and helps preserve it.
Seeded raisins
Add sweetness and chewy texture to the pickle.
Citron
Adds chewy texture and a candied, fruity sweetness.

The step that matters

Boiling the syrup until thick. Boiling the syrup down concentrates the sugar and vinegar, so the syrup coats the pickle and helps preserve it. Syrup that is too thin may not keep well.

Swap the tomato

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

  1. Arrowrootfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, clove, mace, raisin. 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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