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Preserve

Pickled Capsicums

Green capsicum pods are brined, dried, and preserved in vinegar spiced with mace and nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Isabella Beeton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Pickled Capsicums

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Gather the pods with the stalks on, before they turn red.

  2. Slit the pods down the side with a small-pointed knife, and remove the seeds only.

  3. Put the pods in a strong brine for 3 days, changing it every morning.

  4. Take the pods out and lay them on a cloth, with another cloth over them, until perfectly free from moisture.

Pickle

  1. Boil sufficient vinegar to cover them, with mace and nutmeg in the given proportions.

  2. Put the pods in a jar and pour over the vinegar when cold.

  3. Exclude the air by tying a wet bladder over the jar.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

168Calories
1 gProtein
17 gFat
3 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Spiritnot 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 Isabella Beeton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Mace + white peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,695 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  3. Spirit + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together125 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  4. Celery + white peppertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together853 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  5. Spirit + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together99 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Vinegar
Provides sharp acidity that preserves the pods and gives the pickle its tang.
Mace
Adds a warm, aromatic flavour that complements the pickled pods.
Salt
Brine draws moisture out of the pods and seasons them during the first stage.

The step that matters

Drying the pods before pickling. Any moisture left on the pods dilutes the vinegar and weakens its preserving effect, which invites spoilage. Drying them fully on cloths before they go into the jar helps the pickle keep.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (spirit, vinegar, celery, cream, butter, mace):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against spirit, vinegar, celery, cream, butter, mace. 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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