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Melon Mangoes

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

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 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.

Fill and pickle

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

  2. Replace the top and tie it securely.

  3. Boil enough vinegar to cover the cantaloupe, adding brown sugar, and pour it over the filled 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
Serves as the whole container, its firm flesh holding the filling during pickling.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves and sharpens the pickling liquid.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
Green tomatoes
Adds firm, tart bulk to the filling that absorbs the pickling flavors.

The step that matters

Soak the cantaloupe overnight in salt water. Salt draws moisture out of the melon and firms its flesh, so it holds shape and stays crisp rather than turning soft during pickling.

Swap the tomato

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

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

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