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Brocoli and Cauliflower

A pickled broccoli and cauliflower seasoned with curry powder and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Broccoli and cauliflower match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 127 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Brocoli and Cauliflower

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Cut away all leaves and pare the stalks of the broccoli and cauliflower.

  2. Pull away the flowers by branches.

Brine and dry

  1. Steep in brine for two days, then drain.

  2. Wipe dry.

Make the pickle

  1. Prepare the hot pickle by infusing 3 ounces of curry powder in 1 quart of vinegar for three days.

  2. Place the broccoli and cauliflower in the hot pickle.

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. Broccoli + cauliflowertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together127 recipes

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

  2. Cauliflower + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together888 recipes

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

  3. Broccoli + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,286 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Broccoli and cauliflower
Firm florets are the main vegetable that absorbs the brine and pickle flavour.
Brine
Draws out moisture and seasons the vegetables before they are pickled.
Curry powder
Infused into the vinegar to give the pickle its spiced aroma and flavour.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the vegetables and sharpens the pickle.

The step that matters

Drying after the brine. Wiping the vegetables dry after draining keeps surface brine from diluting the hot pickle, so the vinegar flavour and acidity stay strong and the florets stay firm rather than watery.

Swap the broccoli

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cauliflower, vinegar):

  1. Cucumberfits better
  2. Radishfits about as well
  3. Mustardfits about as well
  4. Broccolithe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cauliflower, 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.

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