Name: Cucumber Pick
Ingredients: cucumbers; cider vinegar; salt; sugar; spices (your choice)

Why it works: Cider and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Cucumber Pick

Ingredients

Directions

Select fresh, sound cucumbers.
Slice cucumbers and place them in a large stone jar.
In a separate bowl, mix cider vinegar, salt, sugar, and your choice of spices.
Pour the vinegar mixture over the cucumbers, ensuring they are fully submerged.
Seal the jar tightly to keep out air.
Store in a cool, dark place for several 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.

Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,431 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,734 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cucumber + cidertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together572 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Cucumber + sugartop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,112 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).