Name: Cucumbee Pickles and Spiced Vinegar
Ingredients: small cucumbers; water; coarse sea salt; 1 gallon vinegar; 1 quart brown sugar; 1 small red pepper pod per quart; 4 dozen black pepper berries per quart; 2 teaspoons garlic, chopped fine per quart; ½ dozen allspice per quart; 2 cloves per quart; 2 teaspoons white mustard seed per quart; 3 teaspoons celery seed per quart

Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,874 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Allspice + mustardtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,928 recipes

Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Cucumber + mustardtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,281 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cucumber + garlictop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,556 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers: Form the pickles' main body, absorbing brine flavour and keeping a firm crunch when cured.
Coarse sea salt: Draws water out of the cucumbers and seasons them during the week-long cure.
Vinegar: Provides the acid that preserves the pickles and gives them their sharp tang.
Brown sugar: Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness and adds depth of flavour.
Black pepper berries: Add a warm, pungent spice that flavours the vinegar and pickles as they sit.
Celery seed: Adds a savoury, aromatic flavour that carries through the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Adding salt to the brine until it can support an egg. Salt concentration must be strong enough to draw water out of the cucumbers and keep them firm and safe during the week-long cure. A weak brine lets the cucumbers soften and spoil, while the egg test gives a simple check that the salt level is high enough.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, vinegar, sugar, pepper, allspice, clove, mustard):

Cinnamonfits better
Tarragonfits better
Dillfits better
Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, vinegar, sugar, pepper, allspice, clove, mustard. 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.

Cucumbee Pickles and Spiced Vinegar