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To Pickle Gherkins

A method for pickling small cucumbers using vinegar, salt, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,331 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

To Pickle Gherkins

six to eight dozen gherkins

Ingredients

Directions

Soak and green

  1. Soak small cucumbers or gherkins in cold salt and water for four days, covering them with a cabbage leaf.

  2. Drain the cucumbers and place them in a clean brass pan with cabbage leaves at the bottom.

  3. Cover the cucumbers with equal parts vinegar and water, adding a little pounded alum and more leaves on top.

  4. Heat the mixture until it is scalding hot.

  5. Remove the pan and let it cool slightly.

  6. Repeat heating the mixture throughout the day.

  7. The next morning, heat the cucumbers again with fresh leaves under and over them, then drain.

  8. For six to eight dozen gherkins, add half a pint of vinegar and enough water to cover them, along with some salt.

  9. Scald the mixture as before, heating it until the gherkins turn a good green.

  10. Drain and pour boiling water over the gherkins, letting them sit for a short time.

Pack and seal

  1. Transfer the gherkins to wide-mouthed bottles or stone jars.

  2. Prepare a vinegar mixture by boiling vinegar with bruised nutmeg, ginger, black peppercorns, and whole allspice.

  3. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the gherkins, cover until cool, and seal with bladders.

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. Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Nutmeg + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cucumber + cabbagetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together722 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Cucumber + allspicetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together501 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

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

What each ingredient does

Small cucumbers or gherkins
Form the pickle itself, becoming firm and crisp as they cure in brine and vinegar.
Salt
Draws out water and firms the cucumbers during the long brine soak.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the gherkins and gives them their sharp flavour.
Pounded alum
Helps the cucumbers stay firm and crisp through repeated scalding.
Whole allspice
Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour to the pickling liquid.
Black peppercorns
Adds sharp, pungent spice flavour to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Repeated scalding to green the gherkins. Heating must bring the mixture to scalding without boiling the cucumbers to mush. Repeated gentle heating keeps them firm and turns them green, and the alum helps them hold their texture.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, vinegar, nutmeg, ginger, allspice):

  1. Radishfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, vinegar, nutmeg, ginger, allspice. 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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