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Ragan Pickle

A fermented cabbage pickle with green tomatoes, onions, vinegar, sugar, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Turmeric and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,356 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Ragan Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Make the pickle

  1. Combine cabbage, green tomatoes, onions, vinegar, brown sugar, black pepper, turmeric, celery seed, allspice, cloves, white mustard, and salt in a large pot.

  2. Boil the mixture for 2 hours, stirring well.

  3. Remove from heat and add the spices.

Store

  1. Transfer to air-tight jars.

  2. Store in a cool, dry place.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Turmeric + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,356 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Pepper + turmerictop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,478 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 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

Cabbage
Forms the bulk of the pickle and keeps a crisp, chewy texture during long boiling.
Green tomatoes
Add tartness and body, helping the pickle thicken as it cooks.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the pickle and sharpens its flavour.
Brown sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar and adds a mellow sweetness.
White mustard
Adds pungent heat that mellows during cooking and contributes to the sharp aroma.
Turmeric powder
Gives the pickle its golden-yellow colour and an earthy flavour.

The step that matters

Boil the mixture for 2 hours, stirring well. Long simmering softens the vegetables and drives off harsh raw vinegar sharpness while blending the spices. Stirring prevents scorching on the bottom of the large pot, since sugar and vegetable starches burn easily.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, tomato, vinegar, sugar, pepper, turmeric, celery):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, tomato, vinegar, sugar, pepper, turmeric, celery. 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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