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Chow-chow

A pickled cabbage and green tomato relish with onions, vinegar, sugar, spices, and mustard seed.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,377 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Chow-chow

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot.

  2. Boil the mixture in porcelain or tin until well combined.

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. Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

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

  5. Cabbage + celerytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,840 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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 keeps a crisp, crunchy texture.
Green tomatoes
Adds body and a tart, fresh flavor to the pickle.
Onions
Contributes savory depth and aroma as they soften in the hot liquid.
Vinegar
Provides the sharp acidity that gives the pickle its tang and helps preserve it.
Brown sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness and a deeper flavor.
White mustard seed
Adds a mild, sharp pungency that complements the vinegar and spices.

The step that matters

Boiling in a non-reactive pot. Vinegar is acidic and can react with reactive metals such as aluminum or copper, which can discolor the pickle and taint its flavor. Using porcelain or tin keeps the acid from reacting with the pot while the mixture cooks and blends.

Swap the onion

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

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

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