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Sweet Pickles and Raisins

A preserved mixture of sliced sour pickles and raisins sweetened with sugar, left to sit for several days.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Sweet Pickles and Raisins

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the pickles into thin, round slices.

  2. Steam the raisins until tender.

Pack and rest

  1. Pack the pickles and raisins in alternate layers until all ingredients are used.

  2. Let the mixture sit for several days before using.

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. Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sour pickles
Provides the sharp, sour bite that the sweetness balances.
Raisins
Adds chewy texture and concentrated sweetness.
Sugar
Sweetens the mixture and balances the sourness of the pickles.

The step that matters

Let the mixture sit for several days. Sugar draws moisture out of the pickles and raisins, and the flavors blend over time. Serving early gives a harsher, less balanced result.

“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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