Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
White Walnut Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the walnuts
Gather walnuts in July when they are soft enough to pierce with a needle.
Prick the nuts in several places with a needle and place them in a stone jar.
Prepare brine with 4 pounds of salt dissolved in 1 gallon of water and pour over the walnuts.
Let the walnuts stand in brine for 9 days, changing the brine every third day.
Drain the walnuts and let them sun-dry for 2 to 3 days until they turn black.
Make and pack the pickles
In a pot, boil together 1 gallon of vinegar, 2 ounces of whole black pepper, ½ ounce of whole cloves, ½ ounce of allspice, 1 ounce of ginger root, and 1 ounce of mace for 10 minutes.
Pour the hot mixture over the walnuts in jars, not quite filling them.
Let the pickles sit for a month before using; they will keep for years.
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.
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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,620 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked 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
- Walnuts
- Provide the base; their soft, unripe flesh absorbs brine and spiced vinegar.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the nuts and firms them during the brine soak.
- Vinegar
- Acidity that preserves the walnuts and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
- Whole black pepper
- Adds pungent, warm spice flavour to the pickling liquid.
- Whole cloves
- Contributes warm, aromatic spice to the pickling liquid.
- Ginger root
- Adds aromatic heat and a fresh, zesty note to the pickle.
The step that matters
Changing the brine every third day during the 9-day soak. Fresh brine keeps the salt concentration high enough to draw out moisture and prevent spoilage while the walnuts cure. Letting the brine weaken risks fermentation and soft, spoiled nuts.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (walnut, vinegar, pepper, clove, allspice, ginger):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against walnut, vinegar, pepper, clove, allspice, ginger. 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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