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Melon Mangoes

A preserved cantaloupe filled with cabbage, tomatoes, and spices, boiled in vinegar and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Melon Mangoes

Why it works: Cabbage and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,645 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Melon Mangoes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut a slice from the top of the cantaloupe and remove the seeds.

  2. Soak the cantaloupe overnight in salt water.

  3. Fill the cantaloupe with chopped cabbage, green tomatoes, salt, mustard seed, and red pepper.

  4. Replace the top and tie it securely.

Pickle

  1. Boil enough vinegar to cover the cantaloupe.

  2. Add brown sugar to the boiling vinegar.

  3. Pour the vinegar mixture over the cantaloupe.

  4. Repeat this process for three mornings.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,645 recipes

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

  2. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

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

  3. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  4. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 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

Cantaloupe
Forms the firm edible shell that holds the filling and absorbs the pickling liquid.
Cabbage
Adds crisp texture and body to the filling.
Green tomatoes
Contributes tartness and firmness to the filling.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps balance the vinegar's acidity.
Vinegar
Provides acidity that preserves the fruit and gives the pickle its sharp flavor.

The step that matters

Soaking the cantaloupe overnight in salt water. Salt draws water out of the fruit through osmosis and firms its flesh, so the cantaloupe keeps its texture rather than turning soft during the vinegar stage.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, mustard, pepper, sugar, vinegar):

  1. Horseradishfits better
  2. Radishfits better
  3. Broccolifits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, mustard, pepper, sugar, vinegar. 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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