Why it works: Cinnamon and clove 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 ↓
Sweet Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cucumbers
Pare the cucumbers and remove the seeds and soft parts.
Slice into convenient pieces and soak in cold water with a little salt and 1 teaspoon of alum for several hours or overnight.
Boil the cucumbers in hot water until soft enough to pierce with a fork.
Make the syrup and finish
Drain the cucumbers and prepare a syrup with vinegar, sugar, and spices tied in a cloth.
Add the cucumbers to the syrup and boil until clear.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Cucumber + cinnamontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together874 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,734 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
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Cucumber + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,319 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Ripe cucumbers
- Make up the pickle itself, becoming tender and absorbing the syrup as they cook.
- Vinegar
- Provides the sour acidity that preserves the pickle and balances the sweetness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pickle and, in the syrup, helps firm and preserve the cucumber pieces.
- Alum
- Firms the cucumber flesh so it stays crisp through the long cooking.
- Whole cinnamon
- Adds warm aroma and flavor to the syrup that the cucumbers absorb.
The step that matters
Boil the cucumbers until soft enough to pierce with a fork. Cucumbers must be tender before they go into the syrup, because the syrup alone will not soften them. Testing with a fork shows when the flesh is cooked through, while alum keeps the pieces from turning mushy.
Swap the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, clove):
- Mustardfits better
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Cucumberthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, clove. 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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