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Virginia Mixed Pickle

A preserved mixture of vegetables, spices, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Elizabeth Lyles Wilson (1860–1924) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 37 ingredients
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Why it works: Horseradish and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,832 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Virginia Mixed Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Put the vegetables on board and chop with a large knife.

  2. Mix all well together and put in granite or stone bowl.

  3. Sprinkle a pint of salt over all.

  4. Let stand overnight.

  5. Put in bag to drain well.

  6. Then pour over weak vinegar.

  7. Let stand overnight.

  8. Then press out all the vinegar.

Make the mustard pickle

  1. Take two pounds light brown sugar, one gallon strong apple vinegar, one ounce celery seed, two ounces turmeric, two ounces white mustard seed, small bottle mustard dressing.

  2. Boil pickle slowly for three-fourths hour.

  3. Put in jars and cover with the vinegar.

  4. Seal tight.

Make the rind pickle

  1. Pare the green and pink from rind and cut in slices or squares.

  2. Put six pounds rind into weak alum and salt water.

  3. Let stand twenty-four hours.

  4. Drain and boil in clear water until tender.

  5. Then cook in a syrup made of three pounds of sugar, one gallon apple vinegar, one ounce cinnamon bark, one-half ounce cloves, three or four pieces mace.

  6. Boil until clear and tender.

  7. Put in jars and cover with syrup.

  8. Seal tight.

Make the chow-chow

  1. Put spices in bag.

  2. Run tomatoes, onions and peppers through chopper.

  3. Boil all together until thick.

  4. Put in jar and seal tight.

  5. Peel and chop fine tomatoes with onions.

  6. Add spices in bag.

  7. Boil all together until thick.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

363Calories
9 gProtein
4 gFat
82 gCarbs

Counts 17 of 20 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 17 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Apple1 medium (182g)95
Broccoli1 cup chopped (156g)55
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Celery Seed1 stalk (40g)6
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
White Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Horseradishnot in our table0
Seednot in our table0
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. Horseradish + mustardtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,832 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Horseradish + celerytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together835 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,774 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Celery + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Light brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps balance the sharp vinegar.
Apple vinegar
Provides acidity that preserves the pickle and sharpens its flavour.
White mustard seed
Adds pungent mustard flavour that mellows during simmering.
Turmeric (in the method)
Gives the pickle its characteristic yellow colour.
Salt
Draws water out of the vegetables so they drain and firm up.
Green tomatoes
Provide the bulk of the pickle and absorb the surrounding syrup and spices.

The step that matters

Boil the chow-chow until thick. Long simmering evaporates water and concentrates the vegetables and vinegar. Stopping early leaves a thin, watery pickle that may not keep well.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (horseradish, sugar, apple, vinegar, celery, mustard, clove):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against horseradish, sugar, apple, vinegar, celery, mustard, 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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