Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Ripe Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel the cucumbers, remove the seeds, and cut them into desired pieces.
Place the cucumbers in a jar and cover with boiling water mixed with salt.
Let the cucumbers sit overnight.
Brine and spice
In the morning, drain the cucumbers and soak them in vinegar for 24 hours.
Cook the cucumbers in a mixture of cider vinegar, cinnamon buds, and whole cloves until clear.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Cucumber + cinnamontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together874 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,734 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
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Cucumber + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,319 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cucumbers
- Provide the main bulk and crisp texture that the brine and vinegar transform into pickles.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the cucumbers and seasons them, firming the texture before pickling.
- Cider vinegar
- Adds acidity that preserves the cucumbers and gives the pickle its tangy flavor.
- Cinnamon buds
- Contribute warm, sweet aroma to the pickling liquid.
- Whole cloves
- Add a pungent, warm aroma to the pickling liquid.
The step that matters
Draining and soaking in vinegar. Salt and boiling water must be drained off before the vinegar soak, because leftover brine dilutes the vinegar and affects both flavor and preservation. Soaking long enough lets the acid penetrate the cucumbers.
Swap the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cider, vinegar, cinnamon, clove):
- Mustardfits better
- Horseradishfits about as well
- Cucumberthe original
- Shallotfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against cider, vinegar, cinnamon, 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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