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Capsicums, Pickled

Pickled capsicums preserved in vinegar, salt, and mace.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Capsicum and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,160 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Capsicums, Pickled

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Gather capsicums with stalks before they turn red.

  2. Place capsicums in a jar.

Pickle

  1. Boil enough vinegar to cover the capsicums.

  2. Add 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt and ½ ounce of powdered mace for every quart of vinegar.

  3. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the capsicums.

  4. Once cooled, seal the jar tightly with a bladder.

  5. Let sit for five to six weeks before using.

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.

  1. Capsicum + vinegartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,160 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Capsicum + macetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,100 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Vinegar + macetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,415 recipes

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

What each ingredient does

Capsicums
Provide the main vegetable body and flavour that the pickling liquid infuses.
Vinegar
Acidity that preserves the capsicums and gives the pickle its sharp taste.
Powdered mace
Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Seal the jar after the mixture has cooled. Sealing while the liquid is still hot can create pressure and weaken the seal; letting it cool first helps the jar close properly. The vinegar's acidity and the sitting time work together to flavour and preserve the capsicums.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Pepperfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Corianderfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against capsicum, vinegar. 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.

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