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 ↓
To Pickle Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the water, brown sugar, saltpetre, and salt in a pot, skimming off any scum that rises.
Once no more scum rises, let it boil for 20 minutes, then remove from heat and let it cool completely.
When cold, cover the meat completely with the brine.
Boil the pickle every month, skim it carefully, and add a couple of handfuls of common salt.
Rub the meat with a little salt and let it sit for a few hours before adding it to the pickle.
Keep the meat closely covered.
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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Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Sugar + allspicetop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,938 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + clovetop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together17,182 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and clove barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 17,182 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the allspice
The recipe marks allspice as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, pepper, clove):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Allspicethe original
- Cardamomfits less well
- Nutmegfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, pepper, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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