Skip to main content
Main

Artichoke Pickle

A pickled artichoke preserved in a spiced vinegar brine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Artichoke Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the artichokes

  1. Wash the artichokes thoroughly.

  2. Pour a strong, hot brine over the artichokes and let them stand for twelve hours or longer.

  3. If needed, soak the artichokes in water for a few hours to reduce saltiness.

  4. Scald the artichokes in vinegar for a few minutes, then discard the vinegar.

Make the pickling liquid

  1. In a pot, scald vinegar with allspice, cloves, mace, cinnamon, and whole black pepper.

  2. Add 2 pounds of brown sugar to a gallon of the scalded vinegar.

Pickle and store

  1. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the artichokes.

  2. Add a few cloves of garlic or onions if desired.

  3. Once cooled, cover the jar closely and store in a cool place.

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. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Artichokes
Main vegetable that absorbs the spiced vinegar and becomes tender and tangy.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the artichokes and gives the pickle its sharp flavor.
Brown sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness and a deeper, molasses note.
Allspice
Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor to the pickling liquid.
Cloves
Adds strong, warm aroma to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Scalding the artichokes in vinegar, then discarding it. Brief scalding softens and partly cooks the artichokes so they take up the pickling liquid, while discarding the vinegar removes excess salt from the brine soak.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (artichoke, vinegar, allspice, clove, cinnamon, pepper, sugar):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against artichoke, vinegar, allspice, clove, cinnamon, pepper, 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.

You might also like

Artichoke SoupArtichoke Soup55 recipesTomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesMutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipes