Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Sweet Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the melon
Pare and slice the cantaloupe melons finely.
Weigh the sliced melons and pack them tightly in an earthen dish or stone jar.
Cover the melons with vinegar and let them sit for 24 hours.
Remove the melons carefully after 24 hours.
Make the syrup and cook
In a pot, combine the remaining vinegar (after removing 1 quart) with sugar and spices.
Heat the mixture to boiling, skimming until clear.
Add the melons and boil slowly until tender, about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Let the mixture stand for 24 hours.
Jar and rest
Heat the syrup to boiling again, pack the melons into jars, and pour the hot syrup over them.
Cover the jars and set aside; they will not be ready for use for several weeks.
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.
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cantaloupe melons
- Provides the bulk of the pickle and, once cooked until tender, its texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pickle and, in the syrup, helps preserve the fruit.
- Vinegar
- Acidity that softens the melon in soaking and helps preserve the pickle.
- Cinnamon sticks
- Adds warm aroma and flavour to the syrup.
- Whole cloves
- Adds pungent, warm aroma to the syrup.
- Whole allspice
- Adds warm, spiced aroma to the syrup.
The step that matters
Boil the melons until tender, not mushy. Cantaloupe softens quickly, and over-boiling breaks down its flesh into mush. Simmering slowly and checking for tenderness keeps the pieces intact while letting the syrup penetrate and flavour them.
Swap the melon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, clove, allspice, vinegar, syrup):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Orangefits better
- Melonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cinnamon, clove, allspice, vinegar, syrup. 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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