Name: Pefpek Vinegar Pickle
Ingredients: 12 pods of red pepper; 2 quarts of vinegar; cucumbers, tomatoes, or young cimblins (soaked in salt brine for 2 days); 1 pint of vinegar; 1 quart of water

Why it works: Vinegar and cucumber are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,734 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyl acetate, which smells fruit. The science ↓

Pefpek Vinegar Pickle

Ingredients

12 pods of red pepper
2 quarts of vinegar
cucumbers, tomatoes, or young cimblins (soaked in salt brine for 2 days)
1 pint of vinegar
1 quart of water

Directions

Prepare

Boil the red pepper pods in 2 quarts of vinegar using a porcelain kettle.
Soak cucumbers, tomatoes, or young cimblins in salt brine for 2 days.

Pickle

Place the soaked vegetables in a brass kettle lined with grape leaves.
Add 1 pint of vinegar and 1 quart of water to the vegetables and heat slowly.
Once heated, drop the vegetables into the pepper vinegar.
If necessary, add more vinegar to cover the vegetables once cooled.

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.

Vinegar + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,734 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Pepper + cucumbertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,991 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Red pepper pods: Provide the heat and pungent flavor that infuse the vinegar.
Vinegar: Acts as the preserving liquid, adding sharp acidity that keeps the vegetables pickled.
Cucumbers, tomatoes, or young cimblins: Are the vegetables that take on the pepper and vinegar flavor during pickling.