Name: Pickled Cucumbers
Ingredients: 600 small cucumbers; 2 quarts of peppers; 1½ cups coarse sea salt; 1 piece of alum (about the size of an egg); 3 gallons cider vinegar; 3 pints water; ¼ pound whole cloves; ¼ pound whole allspice; ¼ pound stick cinnamon; 2 ounces white mustard seed

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. 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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,874 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,536 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,395 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers: Form the main body of the pickles that the brine flavours and softens.
Cider vinegar: Provides the acidity that preserves the pickles and gives them their sharp taste.
Coarse sea salt: Draws water out of the cucumbers and helps firm their texture before pickling.
White mustard seed: Adds a sharp, warm aroma and flavour to the brine.

The step that matters

Pouring the hot mixture over the cucumbers and peppers. The liquid must be fully boiling when poured so it penetrates and begins preserving the vegetables; a lukewarm brine can leave the pickles less firm and more prone to spoiling.

Swap the cucumber

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, egg, cider, vinegar, clove, allspice, cinnamon):

Mustardfits better
Capsicumfits better
Horseradishfits about as well
Cucumberthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, egg, cider, vinegar, clove, allspice, cinnamon. 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.

Pickled Cucumbers