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Pickling

A method for pickling gherkins in a brine and vinegar with spices and aromatics.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pickling

Ingredients

Directions

Brine

  1. Lay gherkins in a strong brine of salt and water for three days.

  2. Wipe the gherkins dry.

  3. Place the gherkins in stone jars.

Spice and pour

  1. In a preserving pan, add vinegar to cover the gherkins.

  2. Add whole ginger, black pepper, mace, allspice, cloves, horse-radish, peeled onions, eschalots, and garlic.

  3. Boil the liquid for ten minutes.

  4. Pour the hot liquid over the gherkins.

  5. Cover the jars with cabbage leaves and a plate.

  6. Set the jars in a warm place.

Drain and re-pour

  1. Drain the liquor from the jars.

  2. Boil the drained liquor.

  3. Pour the boiled liquor over the gherkins again.

  4. Boil the vinegar again if the gherkins are not green enough on the third day.

  5. Pour the boiled vinegar over the gherkins.

Seal and store

  1. Cover the jars with bladder and white leather when cold.

  2. Store the jars in a dry place.

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. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Ginger + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,620 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Horse + radishtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together529 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  5. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Gherkins
Are the vegetable being pickled, becoming firm and crisp in the brine and vinegar.
Coarse sea salt
Draws water out of the gherkins during the brine, firming them and helping preserve them.
Vinegar
Acidic liquid that preserves the gherkins and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma and flavour to the pickling liquid.
Whole ginger
Adds warm, aromatic spice to the pickling liquid.
Black pepper
Adds sharp, aromatic heat to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Pour the boiled liquor over the gherkins again. Hot liquid must be poured over the gherkins so the vinegar penetrates and the pickle is preserved. Checking colour on the third day shows whether the gherkins are firm and green enough, and reboiling restores the acidity and heat needed for preservation.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, ginger, pepper, allspice, clove, horse, radish):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Turmericfits better
  3. Nutmegfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, ginger, pepper, allspice, clove, horse, radish. 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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