Name: Mixed Pickle
Ingredients: ½ gallon best vinegar; 2 ounces curry powder; 2 ounces salt; 2 ounces mustard; 1 ounce garlic; 1 ounce pale turmeric; a few small red peppers

Why it works: Mustard and turmeric match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,279 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Mixed Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Combine vinegar, curry powder, salt, mustard, garlic, turmeric, and red peppers in a large container. Stir well to mix all ingredients thoroughly.
Use this mixture to pickle gherkins, cauliflowers, or any other vegetables you prefer.

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.

Mustard + turmerictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,279 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Turmeric + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,478 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Mustard + garlictop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,053 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Garlic + turmerictop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,363 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Vinegar: Provides the acidity that preserves and sharpens the pickling liquid.
Mustard: Adds pungent, sharp flavor that balances the spices.
Curry powder: Supplies the main spice aroma and flavor of the pickle.
Turmeric: Gives the pickle its pale yellow color and earthy flavor.
Garlic: Adds pungent aroma and savory depth to the liquid.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, mustard, turmeric, pepper):

Tarragonfits better
Cuminfits better
Allspicefits better
Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, mustard, turmeric, 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.