Name: Pickled Tomatoes
Ingredients: 1 peck green tomatoes, sliced; 1 cup coarse sea salt; 2 cups sugar; 2 tablespoons whole cloves; 2 tablespoons whole allspice; 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon; 8 green peppers, chopped fine; 2 dozen onions, chopped (optional); chopped cabbage (optional); strong vinegar

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 ↓

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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,874 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,536 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,395 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Green tomatoes: Form the bulk of the pickle and soften as they cure in salt.
Coarse sea salt: Draws water out of the tomatoes, firming them and reducing excess liquid.
Sugar: Balances the sharpness of the vinegar and adds sweetness.
Strong vinegar: Provides the acidity that preserves the pickle and gives it its tang.
Green peppers: Add crisp texture and a fresh, grassy flavor to the mixture.

The step that matters

Drain off the liquid. Salt draws water out of the tomatoes overnight. If that liquid is not fully drained, the pickle stays watery and dilutes the vinegar, weakening both flavor and keeping quality.

Swap the onion

The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, sugar, clove, allspice, cinnamon, pepper, cabbage):

Capsicumfits better
Carrotfits better
Mustardfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, sugar, clove, allspice, cinnamon, pepper, cabbage. 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.

Pickled Tomatoes