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 ↓
Pickled Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the chicken
Boil the chickens until the meat falls from the bones.
Place the meat in a stone jar.
Pickle
Pour 3 pints of cold cider vinegar and 1½ pints of the boiling water over the meat.
Add spices if desired.
Let it sit for 2 days before using.
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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Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Chicken + cidertop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together374 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Chicken + vinegartop 27% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,344 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chickens
- Provide the meat that is softened by boiling and then pickled.
- Cider vinegar
- Acidity that preserves the meat and gives it a sharp, tangy flavour.
“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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