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Pickled Peaches

A pickled peach recipe using white peaches, sugar, vinegar, cloves, and optional cinnamon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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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 ↓

Pickled Peaches

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pare the peaches and insert three cloves into each peach.

  2. Boil the vinegar until clear, then skim off any impurities.

Make the syrup and soak

  1. Add a few peaches to the syrup at a time, letting them soak for about 15 minutes.

  2. Transfer the peaches to a large stone jar.

  3. Boil the syrup until thick, then pour it hot over the peaches.

  4. If desired, add four sticks of cinnamon to the syrup.

Rest and store

  1. After a week, pour off the syrup and boil it down until there is just enough to cover the peaches.

  2. Seal the peaches in glass jars if preferred.

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. Peach + cinnamontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together625 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  3. Peach + clovetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together280 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Peaches
The main fruit, which softens and absorbs the spiced syrup as it rests.
White sugar
Sweetens and thickens the syrup, helping preserve the fruit.
Vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that balances the sweetness and helps preserve the fruit.
Cloves
Adds warm spice aroma that flavors the peaches.

The step that matters

Boiling the syrup until thick, then pouring it hot over the peaches. Sugar syrup held near boiling is thick and hot enough to penetrate the fruit and keep it stable. If the syrup is too thin or cool, the peaches may not take up enough sugar and can spoil sooner.

“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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