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Cucumber Catsup

A cucumber-based condiment with salt, horseradish, onion, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Jacqueline Harrison Smith (ed.) · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Horseradish and cucumber match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 640 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cucumber Catsup

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Peel and grate the cucumbers.

  2. Add 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 of black pepper, a handful of grated horseradish, 1 large onion, grated, and pour over 1 pint of strong vinegar.

  3. Bottle and cork loosely.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

66Calories
2 gProtein
0 gFat
15 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Horseradishnot 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 Jacqueline Harrison Smith (ed.). 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. Horseradish + cucumbertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together640 recipes

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

  2. Horseradish + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Cucumber + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,050 recipes

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

  4. Horseradish + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,646 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers
Make up the bulk of the sauce and add fresh, watery moisture.
Vinegar (in the method)
Adds sharp acidity that gives the catsup its tang and keeps it bright.
Horseradish
Contributes a pungent, sharp aroma and heat.
Onion
Adds savoury depth and aroma to the sauce.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (horseradish, cucumber, pepper):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Beetrootfits better
  3. Cauliflowerfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against horseradish, cucumber, pepper. 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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