Why it works: Cucumber and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,734 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyl acetate, which smells fruit. The science ↓
Cucumber Mash
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cucumbers
Take 1 bushel of full grown green cucumbers, peel and slice them, sprinkle with salt and let them stand on a sieve for 2 hours so that the water may run off.
Chop the cucumbers up fine.
Make the mash
Add 2 dozen large onions cut small, 1 lb white mustard seed, ½ lb ground mustard, ¼ lb black pepper ground, and 1 lb black mustard seed.
Mix all together with best wine vinegar, making the consistency of thick catsup, and fill your jars, tying up and closing tight.
Store
Sometimes the vinegar soaks up, and it is necessary to add vinegar after a few days to each jar.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Cucumber | 1/2 cup sliced (52g) | 16 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 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.
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.
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Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,734 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cucumbers
- Form the bulk of the mash, providing the crisp, pickled texture once salted and chopped.
- White mustard seed (in the method)
- Adds sharp pungency and texture that mellows during pickling in vinegar.
- Black mustard seed (in the method)
- Contributes sharp, pungent flavour and crunch to the mash.
- Wine vinegar
- Acidity that preserves the mash and gives it its tangy flavour and thick, spoonable consistency.
The step that matters
Draining the cucumbers with salt. Salting and resting the cucumbers draws out excess water. If it is not drained well, the mash will be watery and dilute the vinegar, so it will not reach the thick, catsup-like consistency the recipe needs.
“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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