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Cauliflower Pickles

Pickled cauliflower preserved in cider vinegar with mace and mixed spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Cider and vinegar 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 ↓

Cauliflower Pickles

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cauliflower

  1. Clean and rinse the cauliflower thoroughly.

  2. Divide the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces.

  3. Boil the pieces in water until tender, then drain.

  4. Place the cauliflower in stone jars, leaving some space at the top.

Pickle

  1. Simmer enough cider vinegar to fill the jars for 15 minutes, adding a little mace and a bag of mixed spices.

  2. Pour the hot vinegar over the cauliflower, filling the jars to the rim.

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. Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

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

  2. Cauliflower + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together888 recipes

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

  3. Cauliflower + cidertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together141 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Cider + macetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together658 recipes
  5. Vinegar + macetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,415 recipes

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

What each ingredient does

Cauliflower
Forms the firm, crisp-tender body of the pickle once boiled and packed.
Cider vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves and sharpens the pickled cauliflower.
Mace
Adds a warm, aromatic flavour to the pickling liquid.
Mixed spices
Adds aromatic depth to the vinegar as it simmers and infuses.

The step that matters

Filling the jars with hot vinegar. Pouring hot vinegar over the cauliflower and filling to the rim helps drive out air and seal the pieces under the liquid, so they stay submerged and keep well.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cauliflower, cider, vinegar):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Turmericfits better
  3. Allspicefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cauliflower, cider, vinegar. 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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