Why it works: Mustard and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Chow Chow
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the cabbage finely.
Combine the chopped cabbage with green tomatoes, white onions, green peppers, and green cucumbers in a large pot. Season the mixture with mustard and celery seed to taste.
Cover the vegetables with cider vinegar.
Cook and store
Boil the mixture slowly for 2 hours, stirring continually. Once removed from the heat, stir in the salad oil.
Cover tightly. Store in a cool place.
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.
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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Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cucumber + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,281 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + cucumbertop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,405 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,377 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Green tomatoes
- Provide bulk and a tart, fresh flavour that cooks down into the relish.
- White onions
- Add savour and sweetness as they soften during the long simmer.
- Cabbage
- Adds crisp texture and body that holds up through slow boiling.
- Cider vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and helps preserve the mixture.
- Salad oil
- Adds fat and a smoother mouthfeel to the finished relish.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture slowly while stirring continually. Vegetables held in vinegar can scorch on the bottom of the pot during a long simmer. Constant stirring spreads heat evenly, prevents sticking and burning, and lets the vinegar reduce gradually so the texture softens without turning mushy.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper, cucumber, cabbage, mustard, celery, cider):
- Lettucefits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Broccolifits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, cucumber, cabbage, mustard, celery, cider. 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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