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Mustard Tickle

A pickled vegetable mixture of cauliflower, onions, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes in mustard‑flavored vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cauliflower and cucumber match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 584 recipes. Both carry 2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Mustard Tickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Combine the cauliflowers, onions, cucumbers, green peppers, and green tomatoes in a large bowl.

  2. Sprinkle with salt and let stand overnight.

  3. Drain the mixture the next morning.

Make the pickling liquid

  1. In a large pot, add the vinegar and bring to a scald.

  2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugar, turmeric, and mustard to form a paste.

  3. Add the paste to the vinegar and cook for a few minutes until thickened.

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. Cauliflower + cucumbertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together584 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  2. Cucumber + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,405 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  4. Onion + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,050 recipes

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

  5. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 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

What each ingredient does

Cauliflowers
Forms the firm, crisp body of the pickled mixture.
White onions
Adds bulk and a sharp, savory flavor to the pickles.
Cucumbers
Contributes crunch and fresh, mild flavor to the pickles.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves and sharpens the pickles.
Flour
Thickens the mustard paste so the pickling liquid becomes a thick sauce.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.

The step that matters

Add the paste to the vinegar and cook until thickened. Flour mixed with sugar and spices must be fully cooked in hot liquid to thicken evenly. Stirring the paste in well and simmering it for a few minutes prevents lumps and a raw, floury taste.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cauliflower, cucumber, pepper, tomato, vinegar, flour, sugar):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against cauliflower, cucumber, pepper, tomato, vinegar, flour, 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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