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Pickled Cucumbers

A method of preserving cucumbers in spiced vinegar and alum.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Pickled Cucumbers

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the brine

  1. In a jar, combine spiced vinegar and a little coarse sea salt.

  2. Each time you gather cucumbers, pour boiling vinegar with a little alum over them.

Scald and pickle

  1. Transfer the cucumbers to the spiced vinegar.

  2. When ready, scald the cucumbers in alum vinegar for 2-3 minutes until green.

  3. Return them to the spiced vinegar.

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. Vinegar + cidertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  2. Cucumber + cinnamontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together874 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Vinegar + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,734 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  4. Cinnamon + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,890 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  5. Cinnamon + macetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers
The main vegetable that is softened and pickled in the vinegar mixture.
Cider vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the cucumbers and gives them their sharp, tangy flavour.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
Alum
Helps the cucumbers stay firm and keep their green colour during scalding.

The step that matters

Scalding the cucumbers in alum vinegar. Scalding for only 2-3 minutes until green is important. Too long can soften the cucumbers, while stopping too early leaves them less firm and less green. Alum helps keep them crisp.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, cucumber, cider, sugar, cinnamon, pepper):

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Clovefits better
  3. Nutmegfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, cucumber, cider, sugar, cinnamon, pepper. 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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