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Green Beans and Radish Pods

Pickled green beans and radish pods preserved in a vinegar brine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Green Beans and Radish Pods

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the brine

  1. Gather the following ingredients: small cucumbers, button onions, small bunches of cauliflower, carrots, ginger, grapes, strips of horse radish, radishes, bean pods, cayenne pods, four quarts of white wine vinegar, four tablespoonfuls of salt, mustard, flour, two tablespoonfuls of ground ginger, pepper, allspices, and turmeric.

  2. Make the brine by dissolving a pint of rock salt in boiling water.

  3. Add the vegetables to the brine and cover tightly to prevent steam from escaping.

  4. Let the mixture stand for a night and a day.

  5. Replace the brine and let stand for the same period.

  6. If desired, skim and scald the second brine for reuse.

Pack and spice

  1. Select pickles of equal size and various colours.

  2. Arrange pickles in bottles for best taste.

  3. Add spices to four quarts of white wine vinegar.

  4. Simmer the mixture, ensuring mustard and turmeric are blended with a little vinegar; when boiling, pour into a vessel and cover tightly.

  5. When cooled, pour into bottles and seal.

  6. Store for five to six months before use.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

85Calories
0 gProtein
0 gFat
16 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 9 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Fruitnot in our table0
Waternot 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.

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. Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Mace + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. White wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,776 recipes

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

  5. Ginger + macetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,152 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

White wine vinegar
Forms the acidic liquid that preserves the pickles and gives them their sharp flavour.
Salt
Draws water out of the vegetables and helps firm them during the brine stage.
Ground ginger
Adds warm aroma and spice to the pickling liquid.
Rock salt
Forms the brine that softens and seasons the vegetables before pickling.

The step that matters

Covering the vegetables in the brine. Keeping the lid on tightly traps the steam so the brine stays hot and the vegetables are evenly exposed. Vegetables that are not fully submerged can spoil or stay unevenly seasoned during the long stand.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Clovefits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Cardamomfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, vinegar, ginger, sugar, 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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