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Pickles. Gherkins.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,620 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pickles. Gherkins.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Prick the gherkins in several places with a needle.

  2. Soak them in cold water with enough salt to make a strong brine for 3 hours.

  3. Remove the gherkins and dry them with a clean cloth.

  4. In a saucepan over low heat, combine the gherkins with strong brown pickling vinegar, allspice, half the amount of whole black pepper, a little brown ginger, and cayenne pepper.

  5. Simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool.

  6. Pour the mixture over the gherkins in a jar and seal tightly.

  7. Let them sit for 3-4 days 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. Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,620 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Cucumber + allspicetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together501 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  4. Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,734 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  5. Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

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

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 (vinegar, allspice, pepper, ginger):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, allspice, pepper, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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