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Cucumber Sweet Pickle

A sweet pickle made by pickling cucumbers in a sugar and vinegar solution with spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and cucumber are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,734 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyl acetate, which smells fruit. The science ↓

Cucumber Sweet Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pare the cucumbers and remove the seeds.

  2. Cut into smallish pieces.

  3. Soak overnight in weak salt and water.

Make the syrup and cook

  1. Make a syrup of the sugar and vinegar with spices tied in a bag and boil for 20 minutes.

  2. Drain the cucumbers and dry with a cloth.

  3. Boil them in the syrup until soft and transparent.

Pack and thicken

  1. Skim out, drain and place in a stone jar.

  2. Boil the syrup until thick as molasses.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

68Calories
1 gProtein
0 gFat
16 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3

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. Vinegar + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,734 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  2. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sugar + cucumbertop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,112 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers
Form the body of the pickle, softening and turning translucent as they absorb the syrup.
Brown sugar
Sweetens the pickle and, as the syrup thickens, helps preserve the cucumbers.
Vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that balances the sweetness and helps preserve the pickles.
Mixed spices
Flavour the syrup with aroma while it boils, without being cooked into the fruit.

The step that matters

Boil them in the syrup until soft and transparent.. Gentle simmering lets the sugar syrup slowly draw water out of the cucumbers and replace it, so they turn clear and tender. Vigorous boiling breaks the pieces apart and can make them mushy.

Swap the cucumber

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

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Cucumberthe original
  4. Beetrootfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar. 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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