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Chow Chow

A preserved relish of green tomatoes, cabbage, onions, peppers, sugar, vinegar, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Chow Chow

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Slice the green tomatoes and chop the cabbage and onions finely.

  2. Salt the mixture well, place it in a sack, and drain overnight.

Cook

  1. In the morning, add the sliced peppers, brown sugar, and vinegar.

  2. Stir in the cinnamon, allspice, mustard, ginger, and mace.

  3. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer slowly until clear.

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. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

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

  2. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  3. Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 recipes

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

  4. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,890 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Green tomatoes
Provide the bulk of the relish and a tart, fresh flavor.
Cabbage
Adds crisp texture and body that holds up through long cooking.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the relish while it cooks down.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that preserves the mixture and sharpens its flavor.
Onions
Contribute savory depth and aroma as they soften during simmering.

The step that matters

Simmer slowly until clear. Cooking gently over low heat lets the vegetables soften and release their juices evenly without scorching on the bottom of the pot. Sugar near the base can burn if the heat is too high, so stir and keep the simmer low.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, cabbage, pepper, coffee, sugar, vinegar, cinnamon):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Cucumberfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, cabbage, pepper, coffee, sugar, vinegar, 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.

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