Name: Mango Pickles
Ingredients: 2 dozen mangoes, ground or chopped fine; 1 bunch celery, chopped fine; 3 dozen green tomatoes, chopped fine; 1 dozen cucumbers, chopped; ½ gallon vinegar; brown sugar to taste; spices to taste

Why it works: Tomato and cucumber are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,405 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mango Pickles

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Mix the mangoes, celery, green tomatoes, and cucumbers thoroughly.
Let the mixture drain for 30 minutes.

Make the pickling liquid

Heat the vinegar with brown sugar and spices until dissolved.

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.

Tomato + cucumbertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,405 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Mango + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together225 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Celery + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,745 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,734 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

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

What each ingredient does

Mangoes: Provide the main fruit body and flavor of the pickle.
Green tomatoes: Add bulk and a tart, firm texture to the mixture.
Cucumbers: Add crisp texture and moisture to the pickle.
Vinegar: Provides acidity that preserves and sharpens the pickle.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mango, tomato, cucumber, vinegar, sugar):

Corianderfits better
Peppermintfits better
Tarragonfits better
Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mango, tomato, cucumber, 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.