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Pickle Lilly

A pickled relish of green tomatoes and green peppers with sugar, spices, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,536 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pickle Lilly

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop 6 green peppers and 5 quarts of green tomatoes.

  2. Sprinkle with 2 pints of salt.

  3. Let stand overnight. Drain off the brine, cover with good vinegar, and cook slowly for 1 hour. Then drain and put in a jar.

Pickle and seal

  1. Add one pound sugar, 1 tablespoon each of cinnamon and cloves, 14 tablespoonfuls of allspice, 1 cup each of whole mustard and grated horseradish, and 1 pint vinegar.

  2. When boiling hot, pour over the pickle in the jar and cover tightly.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

91Calories
2 gProtein
0 gFat
22 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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. Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Pepper + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,890 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Green tomatoes
Make up most of the pickle and hold their shape after salting and cooking.
Green peppers
Add bulk and a mild, fresh bitterness that contrasts with the sweet spices.
Vinegar
Provides the sharp acidity that preserves the pickle and gives it its tang.
Sugar
Sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar and spices.
Whole mustard (in the method)
Adds pungent, sharp flavour that deepens the pickle.
Allspice
Contributes warm, aromatic spice flavour.

The step that matters

Pouring the boiling liquid and sealing the jar. The liquid must be boiling hot when poured over the pickle, so the jar and contents heat through. Sealing tightly while hot helps the lid close as the jar cools, keeping air out.

Swap the tomato

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

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

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