Why it works: White wine and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,776 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Mock Capers
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Lay the seeds or shoots out on paper in the sun for 1-2 hours.
Put them in a bowl and cover with a not very strong brine for about 3 days.
Drain off the brine and spread them out in the sun again for 1-2 hours to partly dry.
Pickle and store
Pack them in jars or wide-mouthed bottles and cover with boiling white wine vinegar.
Cork or tie down the jars before the vinegar cools.
Let them sit for a few days before use.
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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White wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,776 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Peas + white winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together281 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Peas + vinegartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together676 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Nasturtium seeds or shoots
- Provide the main crisp, pickled texture and a peppery flavour once cured.
- Brine
- Seasons the seeds and draws out moisture during the initial soak.
- White wine vinegar
- Acidity that preserves the seeds and gives the pickle its sharp, tangy taste.
The step that matters
Covering the jars with boiling vinegar and sealing them while still warm. Hot vinegar helps drive air out of the jars and the warm seal lets a vacuum form as they cool, which keeps the pickle stable. Letting the vinegar cool before sealing risks spoilage.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (white wine, vinegar):
- Peasthe original
- Sesamefits about as well
- Kidney beansfits less well
- Beansfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, 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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