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Sweet Pickles

Sweet pickles made from cucumbers, soaked in salt water, boiled with vinegar, sugar, spices, and raisins.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Sweet Pickles

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cucumbers

  1. Take large yellow cucumbers, pare them, and scrape out the seeds.

  2. Soak the cucumbers in salt water for two days.

  3. Remove the cucumbers from the brine and pour boiling water over them.

  4. Let them stand overnight.

  5. Pour off the water; the cucumbers are ready for pickling.

Make and cook the pickles

  1. Prepare the pickling liquid: combine one quart sharp vinegar, one pint of hot water, two large cupfuls sugar, one tablespoonful cinnamon, cloves, allspice, black pepper, nutmeg, and a handful of raisins or ripe grapes.

  2. Scald the mixture and boil until the cucumbers are easily penetrated with a fork.

  3. Use as little vinegar as possible to boil the cucumbers, then pour the remaining vinegar over them when done.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

145Calories
1 gProtein
2 gFat
35 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Fruitnot in our table0
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 Johnson, Vt. Congregational 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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

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

  5. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers (in the method)
Form the body of the pickle, becoming tender after soaking and boiling.
Vinegar
Provides the sharp acidity that defines the pickle and helps preserve it.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
Cinnamon
Contributes warm aroma and flavor to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Use as little vinegar as possible when boiling the cucumbers. Acetic acid is volatile and boils off, so heating the cucumbers in most of the vinegar would weaken its sharp flavor. Adding the remaining vinegar after cooking keeps the pickle tangy.

Swap the raisin

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

  1. Limefits better
  2. Lemonfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, clove, pepper, nutmeg. 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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