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To Pickle Cucumbers

A method for pickling cucumbers using a brine, vinegar, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cucumber and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,281 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Pickle Cucumbers

Ingredients

Directions

Brine and yellow

  1. Make a brine with salt and water strong enough to float an egg.

  2. Pour the brine over the cucumbers.

  3. Cover the cucumbers with fresh cabbage leaves.

  4. Let them stand for a week, stirring twice daily until they turn yellow.

  5. Pour off the water.

Green and drain

  1. Line a porcelain kettle with fresh vine leaves.

  2. Add the cucumbers and a small piece of alum.

  3. Cover with more vine leaves and a cloth.

  4. Fill the kettle with clear water.

  5. Place the kettle over a moderate fire after dinner.

  6. Keep the water warm but not boiling overnight.

  7. If not green by morning, repeat the process.

  8. Drain the cucumbers.

Pickle and seal

  1. Place them in a clean stone jar.

  2. Boil enough vinegar to cover the cucumbers for 5-6 minutes with a muslin bag of spices.

  3. Pour the hot vinegar into the jar.

  4. Seal the jar with a cork and a cloth.

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.

  1. Cucumber + mustardtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,281 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Cucumber + cabbagetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together722 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Very small cucumbers
Form the pickle itself, becoming crisp and firm after brining and vinegar soaking.
Coarse sea salt
Draws water out of the cucumbers and seasons them during the initial brine.
Best vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the cucumbers and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
A small piece of alum
Helps the cucumbers stay firm and crisp during the long warm soaking.
Fresh vine leaves
Supply tannins that help keep the cucumbers firm and green.

The step that matters

Keeping the water warm but not boiling overnight. Boiling would soften the cucumbers and break down their texture, while water that is too cool will not green them. Gentle, steady heat keeps them firm.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, cabbage, vinegar, clove, mustard):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Dillfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, cabbage, vinegar, clove, mustard. 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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