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Dessert

Cherries, Pickled

A sweet and sour preserve made by pickling cherries in a spiced vinegar solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice 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 ↓

Cherries, Pickled

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cherries

  1. Cut off half the stems from the cherries.

Make and pour the pickling syrup

  1. In a pot, combine cider vinegar, mace, cloves, allspice, and brown sugar.

  2. Scald the mixture and pour it over the cherries.

  3. Once cooled, cover the jar tightly.

Rescald and rest

  1. After 3-4 days, pour off the vinegar.

  2. Scald the vinegar again.

  3. Pour the scalded vinegar back over the cherries.

  4. Cover the jar tightly again.

  5. Let it sit for two weeks before using.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  3. Mace + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Mace + allspicetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Vinegar + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,548 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

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

What each ingredient does

Cider vinegar
Provides the acid that preserves the cherries and gives the pickle its tang.
Brown sugar
Balances the sharp acidity with sweetness and adds a deeper, molasses-like flavor.
Cloves
Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor that infuses into the vinegar.
Allspice
Contributes warm, aromatic spice flavor that infuses into the vinegar.
Mace
Adds a delicate, warm aroma to the pickling liquid.
Cherries
Serve as the fruit being pickled, absorbing the spiced vinegar as they rest.

The step that matters

Rescalding the vinegar after 3-4 days. Pouring off the vinegar and scalding it again lets the cherries rest in a hot, fresh brine, which helps the spices and sugar infuse evenly. Keeping the jar tightly covered holds in aroma and acidity while the flavors develop.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cider, vinegar, clove, allspice, sugar):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Gingerfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cider, vinegar, clove, allspice, 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.

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