Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Raisin Mango Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Soak cucumbers in brine for 10 days.
Rinse cucumbers in fresh water to remove salt.
Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
Stuff the cucumber halves with fresh raisins and tie them with string.
In a pot, combine brown sugar, fruit, vinegar, and spices, and bring to a boil for a few minutes.
Pour the hot mixture over the stuffed cucumbers and seal securely in a jar.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Cucumber + cinnamontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together874 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,734 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
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Cucumber + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,319 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, clove):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Mustardfits better
- Arrowrootfits better
- Cucumberthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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