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Chow Chow

A pickled relish of green tomatoes, onions, cauliflower, cucumbers, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cauliflower and cucumber match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 584 recipes. Both carry 2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Chow Chow

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the green tomatoes, onions, cauliflower, and cucumbers.

  2. Let the mixture stand for 24 hours in a good brine, then drain thoroughly.

Cook and seal

  1. Combine everything in a pot with the vinegar.

  2. Boil for 20 minutes.

  3. Put in jars and seal while hot.

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. Cauliflower + cucumbertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together584 recipes

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

  2. Cauliflower + mustardtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

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

  3. Cucumber + mustardtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,281 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 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

Green tomatoes
Provide bulk and a tart, firm texture that holds up during pickling.
Onions
Add savory flavor and body to the relish.
Cauliflower
Adds bulk and a crisp texture to the relish.
Cucumbers
Contribute crunch and fresh flavor to the relish.
Vinegar
Provides acidity that preserves the vegetables and gives the relish its tang.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.

The step that matters

Drain thoroughly after the brine. Salt brine draws water out of the vegetables. If they are not drained well, excess liquid dilutes the vinegar in the pot, weakening the pickling and leaving the relish watery.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, cauliflower, cucumber, sugar, pepper, mustard, cinnamon):

  1. Lettucefits better
  2. Broccolifits better
  3. Horseradishfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, cauliflower, cucumber, sugar, pepper, mustard, cinnamon. 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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