Why it works: Mustard and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,832 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Chow-chow
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Sprinkle the chopped cabbage and cucumbers with salt and let them stand in a vessel overnight.
Drain off the brine.
Scald and drain
Place the vegetables in a bag and scald until wilted, then remove the bag.
Drain for 2 to 3 hours.
Mix and pack
In a large bowl, mix the cabbage, onions, cucumbers, mustard, celery seed, turmeric, and horseradish.
Layer the mixture in a jar, alternating with the cabbage, onions, and cucumbers.
Scald and season
Add a little sugar before scalding.
Scald the mixture in vinegar.
Remove some of the relish.
Add more sugar.
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.
-
Mustard + horseradishtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,832 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Cucumber + horseradishtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together640 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Cabbage + horseradishtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together481 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Mustard + turmerictop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,279 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cabbage
- Forms the bulk of the relish and gives it a crisp, sturdy texture.
- Cucumbers
- Add crunch and fresh moisture that softens partly when salted and scalded.
- Onions
- Contribute sharp, savory flavor that mellows during scalding and storage.
- Mustard
- Adds pungent, tangy flavor characteristic of the relish.
- Turmeric
- Gives the relish its yellow color and an earthy, slightly bitter flavor.
- Sugar
- Balances the vinegar's acidity with sweetness, adjusted to taste.
The step that matters
Scalding the vegetables until wilted. Heat softens the cabbage and cucumbers and draws out water, so they take up the vinegar and seasonings. Overheating turns them mushy, while underheating leaves them raw and watery in the jar.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, cucumber, mustard, celery, turmeric, horseradish, vinegar):
- Cauliflowerfits better
- Radishfits better
- Lettucefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, cucumber, mustard, celery, turmeric, horseradish, vinegar. 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.
More chow chow recipes
You might also like
Cream of Celery Soup113 recipes
Red Cabbage65 recipes
Stewed Cabbage58 recipes
Baked Cabbage51 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.