Name: Bordeaux Pickles
Ingredients: 4 green peppers, shredded; 2 quarts tomatoes, finely chopped; ½ ounce turmeric; ½ ounce celery seed; 1 tablespoon salt; 2 ounces mustard seed; 2 quarts vinegar

Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Bordeaux Pickles

Ingredients

Directions

Combine the shredded green peppers and finely chopped tomatoes in a large pot.
Add turmeric, celery seed, salt, mustard seed, and vinegar.
Cook the mixture over medium heat until tender.
Once tender, transfer to bottles 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.

Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,169 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Turmeric + mustardtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,279 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Turmeric + celerytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,356 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pepper + celerytop 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 peppers: Provide the main vegetable bulk and a fresh, slightly bitter vegetal flavor.
Tomatoes: Supply moisture and acidity that soften the mixture and build the body of the pickle.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that preserves the mixture and gives the pickle its tang.
Mustard seed: Contributes a sharp, pungent flavor that deepens as the pickle cooks.
Turmeric: Adds a warm yellow color and earthy aroma to the pickle.

Swap the tomato

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

Horseradishfits better
Lettucefits better
Cauliflowerfits better
Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, turmeric, celery, mustard, 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.