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Chow Chow

A pickled relish of cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, cauliflower, peppers, mustard, turmeric, brown sugar, flour, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Cucumber and cauliflower match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 584 recipes. Both carry 2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Chow Chow

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Combine large cucumbers, small cucumbers, onions, green tomatoes, cauliflower, and green peppers in a bowl.

  2. Soak the mixture in a weak brine for 24 hours.

  3. Scald the mixture in the same brine.

  4. Drain the mixture.

Make the dressing and combine

  1. In a pot, mix mustard, turmeric, brown sugar, and flour.

  2. Add vinegar to the mixture.

  3. Scald the mixture for a few moments, stirring constantly.

  4. Pour the hot mixture over the pickles.

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. Cucumber + cauliflowertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together584 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  2. Cauliflower + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together514 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Cauliflower + mustardtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Mustard + turmerictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,279 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Cucumber + mustardtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,281 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

Mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavor that gives chow chow its characteristic bite.
Brown sugar
Balances the acidity of the vinegar with sweetness and adds depth to the sauce.
Flour
Thickens the vinegar mixture so the sauce clings to the vegetables.
Vinegar
Acidifies the sauce, preserving the vegetables and giving the pickle its tang.
Turmeric
Gives the pickle its golden-yellow color and a mild, earthy aroma.
Cauliflower
Provides firm texture that holds up to the hot brine and vinegar.

The step that matters

Scald the mixture for a few moments, stirring constantly. Flour thickens by starch gelatinization and can scorch or form lumps if left still over heat. Constant stirring keeps the sauce smooth and evenly thickened.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, tomato, cauliflower, pepper, mustard, turmeric, sugar):

  1. Broccolifits better
  2. Lettucefits better
  3. Horseradishfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, tomato, cauliflower, pepper, mustard, turmeric, sugar. 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.

More chow chow recipes

Relish 49Pickle 25Pickles 16Tomato 9Cucumber 4Salad 3 See all 120 →

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