Why it works: Cucumber and radish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 212 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Horse Radish Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Soak small cucumbers in a salt brine for 48 hours.
Drain and wipe dry with a cloth.
Pack cucumbers and horse radish root in a stone jar, alternating layers.
Add 2 green peppers if using 1 peck of cucumbers.
Heat white wine vinegar to boiling and pour over the pickles.
Let sit for a few days before using.
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.
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Cucumber + radishtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together212 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Horse + radishtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together529 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,734 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
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Radish + vinegartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together508 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Radish + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together382 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (horse, radish, pepper, white wine, vinegar):
- Mustardfits better
- Cucumberthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Cabbagefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against horse, radish, pepper, white wine, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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