Why it works: Cinnamon and clove 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 ↓
Water Melon Sweet Pickels
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rinds
Pare the rinds and cut them into diamond or square pieces.
Dissolve 1 large teaspoon of pulverized alum in enough water to cover the rinds in a gallon crock.
Let the rinds soak in the alum water for 24 to 36 hours.
Pour off the alum water and soak the rinds in cold water for 30 minutes.
Trim any soft pieces from the rinds to ensure they are firm.
Make the syrup
Cover the rinds with warm (not boiling) water.
Add 1 cup of sugar and several pieces of ginger root, then simmer until the rinds are clear.
Remove the rinds with a colander, draining them without crowding.
Weigh the rinds and use an equal amount of sugar to make a syrup, pouring it over the rinds for four days, cooking the syrup each day until thick.
Finish and pack
On the fourth day, add 1 quart of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of stick cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of cloves tied in a cloth to the syrup.
Cook until the mixture tastes good, then add the rinds and heat through.
Pack the pickles into glass jars.
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.
-
Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Watermelon rinds
- Provide the firm, bulky base that absorbs the syrup and becomes the pickle.
- Pulverized alum
- Firms the rind tissue so it stays crisp through long soaking and cooking.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pickle and, with cooking, thickens the syrup that preserves the rinds.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and helps preserve the pickles.
- Stick cinnamon
- Contributes warm aroma and flavor to the syrup.
The step that matters
Trim soft pieces and keep the rinds firm. Soft or bruised rind pieces break down during long simmering and syrup soaking. Alum helps firm the tissue, so removing soft parts before cooking keeps the final pickles intact.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, clove):
- Allspicefits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, clove. 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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.