Cucumber Pickles

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 + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together14,189 recipes

   Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

2. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together7,874 recipes

   Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

3. Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together5,536 recipes

   Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

   Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

5. Cucumber + cinnamontop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together874 recipes

   Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Fresh cucumbers

Provide the crisp body that the brine and vinegar transform into pickles.

Coarse sea salt

Draws water out of the cucumbers and seasons them through the brine.

Vinegar

Acidity preserves the pickles and sharpens their flavour.

Ground cloves

Add warm, aromatic spice flavour to the pickling liquid.

Ground allspice

Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour to the pickling liquid.

Ground cinnamon

Adds sweet, woody aroma to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Swap the cucumber

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, clove, allspice, cinnamon):

1. Mustardfits better
2. Horseradishfits better
3. Shallotfits about as well
4. Cucumberthe original

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