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Cherries, Pickled

A pickled cherry preserve made with cider vinegar, mace, cloves, allspice, and optional brown sugar.

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

  1. Cut off half the stems from the cherries.

  2. In a pot, combine the vinegar, mace, cloves, allspice, and brown sugar (if using).

Pickle

  1. Scald the vinegar mixture and pour it over the cherries.

  2. Once the mixture is cool, cover the jar tightly.

  3. After 3 to 4 days, pour off the vinegar, scald it again, and pour it back over the cherries.

  4. Cover the jar tightly again and let it sit for 2 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 acidity that preserves the cherries and gives the pickling liquid its sharp flavour.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
Cherries
Provide the fruit that absorbs the spiced vinegar and becomes flavoured through the pickling time.

The step that matters

Scalding the vinegar mixture. Heating the vinegar with the spices extracts their aromas into the liquid and helps the brine penetrate the fruit. Pouring it back a second time after 3 to 4 days strengthens the flavour and helps the pickle keep well.

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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