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Pickled Mangoes

Pickled mangoes preserved with salt, spices, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pickled Mangoes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mangoes

  1. Cut the mangoes in half and remove all the seeds.

  2. Tie the mango halves together with coarse thread.

  3. Soak the tied mango halves in a mixture of coarse sea salt and water for 3 to 4 days.

  4. Wash and drain the mangoes.

Ferment in the kettle

  1. Place the mangoes in a kettle covered with vine or cabbage leaves or a clean coarse cloth.

  2. Pour enough hot water to cover the mangoes.

  3. Keep the water warm near the fire.

  4. Once the mangoes are green, remove them from the kettle.

Fill and pickle

  1. Untie the mango halves.

  2. Drain the cut sides of the mangoes.

  3. Cut horse-radish into fine slips.

  4. Mix the horse-radish with mace, cloves, pepper, allspice, and mustard seed.

  5. Fill the mangoes with the spice mixture.

  6. Add a clove of garlic to each mango if desired.

  7. Reassemble the mango halves and tie them together again.

  8. Place the filled mangoes in jars.

  9. Cover the mangoes with vinegar.

  10. Remove the threads before serving.

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

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cabbage + radishtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together106 recipes

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

  3. Horse + radishtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together529 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  4. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Mangoes
Form the main body of the pickle, softening and absorbing the brine and spices.
Coarse sea salt
Draws water out and seasons the mangoes during the salt soak.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that preserves the mangoes and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
Horse-radish
Adds a sharp, pungent heat that flavours the filling.
Mustard seed
Contributes a pungent, slightly bitter aroma to the spice filling.

The step that matters

Keep the water warm near the fire. Gentle, steady warmth drives the fermentation that softens and greens the mangoes. Water that is too cold slows the process, and overheating can spoil the fruit before it is ready.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mango, cabbage, horse, radish, clove, pepper, allspice):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Turmericfits better
  3. Gingerfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mango, cabbage, horse, radish, clove, pepper, allspice. 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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