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Chow-chow

A pickled relish made from celery, tomatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers, cabbage, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and cucumber are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,405 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Chow-chow

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine chopped celery, green tomatoes, white onions, green peppers, cucumbers, and cabbage in a kettle. Add salt and stir well.

  2. Mix in sugar, turmeric, whole spice, cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, and cloves.

Cook and store

  1. Simmer the mixture for 2 hours.

  2. Bottle the chow-chow for storage.

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. Tomato + cucumbertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,405 recipes

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

  2. Celery + turmerictop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,356 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Cucumber + turmerictop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,102 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Green tomatoes
Provide tart acidity and bulk that balances the sweetness of the sugar.
Cabbage
Adds crisp body and bulk that holds its texture through simmering.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps balance the sharpness of the vegetables and spices.
Cucumbers
Contribute moisture and a fresh crunch to the relish.

The step that matters

Simmering the mixture. Simmering for a long time lets the moisture from the vegetables release and evaporate while the flavors blend. Stirring keeps the bottom from scorching, and the relish thickens as the liquid reduces.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, tomato, pepper, cucumber, cabbage, sugar, turmeric):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Cauliflowerfits better
  3. Mustardfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, tomato, pepper, cucumber, cabbage, sugar, turmeric. 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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