Why it works: Allspice and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Pickled Onions
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the onions
Select small onions of uniform size, peel, and trim them nicely.
Place the onions in glass jars.
Season and cover
Pour over the onions 2 heaped teaspoons of allspice, 2 heaped teaspoons of black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of coarse sea salt.
Cover the onions with 1 quart of vinegar.
Alternatively, cover peeled onions with a brine made of ½ pound of salt in 4 quarts of water and let stand for 24 hours.
Drain the onions, cover them with boiling water, then pour it off.
Put the onions in jars and cover with boiling vinegar spiced with whole black pepper and allspice.
Dissolve a bit of alum in the vinegar while boiling, using ½ ounce for 2½ quarts.
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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Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + allspicetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,270 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Allspice + vinegartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,548 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
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Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,226 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Vinegar
- Provides the sour acidity that preserves the onions and gives the pickle its tang.
- Salt
- Draws moisture from the onions and helps firm their texture in the brine.
- Allspice
- Adds warm, aromatic flavour that infuses into the vinegar and onions.
- Black pepper
- Adds sharp, aromatic heat that flavours the pickling liquid.
The step that matters
Covering with boiling vinegar. Pouring boiling vinegar over the onions heats them and helps the spices and acid penetrate, while the acid keeps the onions preserved. Not keeping the liquid hot enough can leave the onions less well flavoured and preserved.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (allspice, pepper, vinegar):
- Mustardfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against allspice, pepper, 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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