Why it works: Ginger and turmeric match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,776 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Shallot Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the ginger
Steep ginger in strong salt water for five days.
Slice ginger.
Dry ginger in the sun.
Place ginger in a large stone jar with white wine vinegar.
Prepare the shallots
Peel garlic or shallots.
Salt garlic or shallots well.
Let garlic or shallots stand in salt for three days.
Wipe garlic or shallots.
Dry garlic or shallots in the sun.
Add garlic or shallots to the jar.
Combine and store
Add long pepper to the jar.
Add bruised mustard seed to the jar.
Add turmeric to the jar.
Shake the jar well.
Salt seasonal vegetables.
Dry seasonal vegetables in the sun.
Add seasonal vegetables to the jar.
Store the pickle for one to two years for best flavor.
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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Ginger + turmerictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,776 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Mustard + turmerictop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,279 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Pepper + turmerictop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,478 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Garlic + mustardtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,053 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Garlic + turmerictop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,363 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ginger
- Adds a sharp, aromatic bite that flavors the vinegar as it steeps.
- White wine vinegar
- Acidic base that preserves the vegetables and gives the pickle its sour flavor.
- Garlic or shallots
- Main vegetable, salted and dried first so it keeps its texture and flavor in the vinegar.
- Long pepper
- Adds pungent, peppery heat to the pickling liquid.
- Bruised mustard seed
- Releases its pungent oils when bruised, adding sharp flavor to the pickle.
- Turmeric
- Adds earthy flavor and a warm yellow color to the pickle.
The step that matters
Salting and drying the garlic or shallots. Salt draws water out of the vegetables through osmosis. If they stay damp, they dilute the vinegar and spoil more easily, so they must be well salted, rested and fully dried before going into the jar.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (white wine, vinegar, garlic, pepper, mustard, turmeric):
- Tarragonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Cuminfits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, vinegar, garlic, pepper, mustard, turmeric. 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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