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Peaches, Pickled

A method for preserving peaches in a seasoned brine and vinegar solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Peaches, Pickled

Ingredients

Directions

Brine the peaches

  1. Wash the peaches with a soft cloth and place them in a pan.

  2. Make a brine by boiling 1 pound of salt in 3 quarts of water for 1 minute.

  3. Skim the brine, let it cool, and pour it over the peaches.

  4. Place a thin board on top to keep the peaches submerged for 3 days.

  5. After 3 days, remove the peaches and place them in a large earthenware jar.

Pickle and store

  1. Boil ½ gallon of vinegar with ¼ pound of bruised ginger, 2 teaspoons of salt, 3 blades of mace, 1 pound of mustard, ¼ pound of whole pepper, and 1 teaspoon of cayenne tied in muslin for 10 minutes.

  2. Skim the boiling liquid and pour it over the peaches.

  3. Cover the jar with a bladder and store it in a cool, dry place.

  4. The pickled peaches will be ready in 9 to 10 weeks.

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. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Peach + gingertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together218 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Ginger + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Ginger + mustardtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Peaches
Unripe, firm fruit that holds its shape through brining and pickling.
Coarse sea salt
Draws water out of the peaches and seasons them during the brine.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the fruit and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
Mustard
Adds pungent flavour and aroma to the pickling liquid.
Ginger
Adds warm, aromatic spice to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Keeping the peaches fully submerged in the brine. Any peach left above the liquid can spoil, because exposed fruit is open to air and mould. A thin board holds the fruit under the brine for the full three days.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Clovefits better
  3. Turmericfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against peach, vinegar, ginger, mustard, 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.

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