Why it works: Ginger and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Pickled Lemons
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lemons
Rub the lemons with a piece of flannel.
Slit each lemon halfway down into four quarters without cutting through the pulp.
Fill the slits with coarse sea salt, pressing it in hard.
Salt and macerate
Set the lemons upright in a pan for 4-5 days until the salt melts, turning them thrice daily in their own liquid until tender.
Make the pickle and pack
Prepare enough pickle to cover the lemons using rape vinegar, the brine from the lemons, Jamaica pepper, and ginger; boil and skim it.
Once cold, pour the pickle over the lemons along with the mustard seed and garlic.
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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Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,154 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Mustard + garlictop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,053 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lemons
- Provide the main flesh and peel, which soften and become tangy as they cure.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out juice and softens the rind and pulp while preserving the fruit.
- Rape vinegar
- Adds acidity that helps preserve the lemons and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
- Mustard seed
- Contributes pungent flavour and a slight crunch to the pickled lemons.
- Garlic
- Adds pungent aroma and savoury depth to the pickle.
The step that matters
Salting and turning the lemons. Salt must be pressed firmly into the slits so it dissolves and draws out juice evenly. Turning the lemons in their own liquid keeps them submerged and softening uniformly, so the rind becomes tender rather than remaining tough or drying out in patches.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, pepper, ginger, mustard, clove, garlic):
- Limefits better
- Lemonthe original
- Cherryfits about as well
- Mangofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, pepper, ginger, mustard, clove, garlic. 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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