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Onions, Pickled.

Pickled onions preserved in a seasoned brine of vinegar, spices, milk, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Isabella Beeton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 20 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,987 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Onions, Pickled.

6 persons / 7 persons

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the onions

  1. Gather the onions, which should not be too small, when they are quite dry and ripe; wipe off the dirt, but do not pare them.

  2. Make a strong solution of salt and water, into which put the onions, and change this, morning and night, for 3 days, and save the last brine they were put in.

  3. Then take the outside skin off, and put them into a tin saucepan capable of holding them all, as they are always better done together.

Cook and drain the onions

  1. Now take equal quantities of milk and the last salt and water the onions were in, and pour this to them; to this add 2 large spoonfuls of salt, put them over the fire, and watch them very attentively.

  2. Keep constantly turning the onions about with a wooden skimmer, those at the bottom to the top, and vice versa; and let the milk and water run through the holes of the skimmer.

  3. Remember, the onions must never boil, or, if they do, they will be good for nothing; and they should be quite transparent.

  4. Keep the onions stirred for a few minutes, and, in stirring them, be particular not to break them.

  5. Then have ready a pan with a colander, into which turn the onions to drain, covering them with a cloth to keep in the steam.

  6. Place on a table an old cloth, 2 or 3 times double; put the onions on it when quite hot, and over them an old piece of blanket; cover this closely over them, to keep in the steam.

Pickle

  1. Let them remain till the next day, when they will be quite cold, and look yellow and shrivelled; take off the shrivelled skins, when they should be as white as snow.

  2. Put them into a pan, make a pickle of vinegar and the remaining ingredients, boil all these up, and pour hot over the onions in the pan.

  3. Cover very closely to keep in all the steam, and let them stand until the next day.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

224Calories
3 gProtein
12 gFat
28 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Brandynot 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. Orange + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,987 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,901 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  3. Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,226 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Brandy + clovetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,362 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Pickling onions
Form the main body of the dish, becoming translucent and firm when cooked gently.
Vinegar
Provides the sharp acidity that gives the pickle its tang and helps preserve the onions.
Seville orange juice
Adds bright acidity and citrus aroma to the pickle.
Cayenne
Adds a lasting background heat to the pickle.

The step that matters

Keep the onions from boiling. Rapid boiling breaks the onions down and makes them mushy. Gentle heat, with constant turning, keeps them whole and gives the translucent texture the method calls for.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, brandy, orange, butter, clove):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, brandy, orange, butter, clove. 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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