Why it works: Vinegar and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓
Silver Skin Onions
Ingredients
Directions
Pour weak scalding brine over the onions every day for nine days, using new brine every other day.
After nine days, transfer the onions to cold spiced vinegar.
Let the onions sit in the vinegar for a few days before eating.
Gather nasturtiums before they fall apart, clean them of flowers, and leave about half an inch of stem.
Drop the cleaned nasturtiums into good cider vinegar, ensuring they are well covered.
When frost arrives, pour off the vinegar and use it as a table condiment.
Place the pickles in a bottle or glass jar, filling it with good vinegar to cover them.
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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Vinegar + cidertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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