Name: Mixed Pickle
Ingredients: 2 gallons chopped cabbage; 2 gallons green tomatoes; 1 pint chopped onions; 5 tablespoons ground mustard; 1 ½ cups white mustard seed; 2 tablespoons ground pepper; 2 tablespoons allspice; 2 teaspoons ground cloves; 1 pound brown sugar; 1 tablespoon celery seed; 2 tablespoons turmeric; 3 quarts cider vinegar

Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

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.

Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,874 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Mustard + allspicetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,928 recipes

Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,645 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,395 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Cabbage: Forms the bulk of the pickle and adds crisp texture once cooked.
Green tomatoes: Provide tartness and body that soften into the pickle as it cooks.
Onions: Add savory sweetness and aroma that mellow during boiling.
White mustard seed: Adds sharp, pungent flavor that mellows as the seeds cook in the vinegar.
Brown sugar: Balances the sharp vinegar with sweetness and a molasses note.
Cider vinegar: Supplies the acidity that preserves the pickle and gives it its tang.

The step that matters

Boil well until everything is cooked through. Vegetables must soften fully so their flavors blend with the vinegar and spices. Underboiled cabbage and tomato stay firm and raw-tasting, and the acid and sugar only penetrate tender tissue.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, onion, mustard, pepper, allspice, clove, sugar):

Horseradishfits better
Turnipfits better
Broccolifits better
Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, onion, mustard, pepper, allspice, clove, sugar. 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.

Mixed Pickle

Mixed Pickle

Ingredients

Directions