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Spanish Pickles

A pickled green tomato and onion relish seasoned with spices and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 ↓

Spanish Pickles

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Slice the green tomatoes and onions, then sprinkle with salt and let stand overnight.

  2. Strain off the juice.

  3. In a bowl, mix the sugar, mustard seed, black pepper, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon.

Cook and store

  1. In a porcelain kettle, layer the tomatoes and onions, sprinkling the spice mixture between layers.

  2. Cover with vinegar and boil slowly for 2 hours.

  3. Pack into small jars and store in a cool 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. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 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

Green tomatoes
Provide the bulk of the pickle and its tart, firm texture once simmered.
Onions
Add savory sweetness and body that softens during the long simmer.
Coarse sea salt
Draws water out of the tomatoes and onions, firming them and concentrating flavor.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar and adds sweetness to the pickle.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the pickle and gives it its tang.
Whole white mustard seed
Contributes a sharp, pungent flavor that mellows during slow cooking.

The step that matters

Cover with vinegar and boil slowly for 2 hours. Simmering gently keeps the tomatoes and onions tender without breaking them apart, while the vinegar and sugar concentrate and meld the spices. A hard boil can scorch the sugar and turn the pickle mushy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, sugar, mustard, pepper, clove, ginger, cinnamon):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Sweet potatofits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, sugar, mustard, pepper, clove, ginger, cinnamon. 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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