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Hodge Podge Pickle

A fermented cucumber and cabbage pickle with onions, peppers, mustard, and sugar, seasoned with salt and cider vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Hodge Podge Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Slice cucumbers medium thin without peeling.

  2. Place cucumbers in a granite pan with shredded cabbage.

  3. Stir in the salt.

  4. Peel and slice the onions.

  5. Remove seeds from the peppers and slice them crosswise.

  6. Add the onions and peppers to the cucumbers and cabbage along with the sugar.

Cook and jar

  1. Pour in enough cider vinegar to wet the mixture thoroughly.

  2. Heat the mixture on the stove.

  3. Stir in the mustard that has been smoothed with cold vinegar.

  4. Add the mustard seeds.

  5. Stir everything together thoroughly.

  6. Let it come to a boil.

  7. If desired, add more sugar for sweetness.

  8. While hot, seal the mixture air-tight in glass fruit jars.

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. Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

  3. Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,645 recipes

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

  4. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 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

Cucumbers
Provide the main bulk and crisp, fresh texture of the pickle.
Cabbage
Adds body and a crunchy texture that holds up after pickling.
White sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.
Cider vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves and sharpens the pickle.
Mustard seed
Adds pungent, sharp flavor and aroma as the mixture heats.
Onions
Contribute savory depth and aroma to the mixture.

The step that matters

Wetting the mixture with vinegar before heating. Enough vinegar must fully coat the vegetables so the acidity reaches every piece. Under-wetted vegetables can spoil and taste flat, while the boil and hot sealing help keep the jars stable.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, cabbage, pepper, coffee, sugar, mustard, celery. 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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