Why it works: Mustard and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,832 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Melon Mangoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the melon
Cut a small square piece from one side of the melon and remove the seeds.
Mix the seeds with mustard seed and shredded garlic, then stuff the mixture into the melon.
Replace the square piece and bind the melon with a small pack thread.
Pickle
Boil vinegar with pepper, salt, and ginger.
Pour the hot vinegar over the stuffed melon and let it sit for four consecutive days.
On the last day, add flour of mustard and scraped horseradish to the boiling vinegar and pour it over the melon.
Ensure the melon is well covered with vinegar.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Mustard + horseradishtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,832 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Garlic + horseradishtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together719 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Mustard + garlictop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,053 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,402 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Melon + gingertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together342 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Melon
- Serves as the vessel and main body that absorbs the pickling vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that preserves and sharpens the flavour of the melon.
- Mustard seed
- Adds pungent heat and a sharp, savoury bite to the stuffing.
- Flour of mustard
- Adds sharpness and thickens the final pickling liquid slightly.
- Scraped horseradish
- Contributes a pungent, sharp heat that intensifies during pickling.
The step that matters
Ensure the melon is well covered with vinegar. Any part of the melon left above the liquid is exposed to air and can spoil or mould, so the melon must stay fully submerged in the acidic brine throughout the four days.
Swap the melon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, garlic, vinegar, pepper, ginger, flour, horseradish):
- Limefits better
- Lemonfits better
- Avocadofits better
- Melonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, garlic, vinegar, pepper, ginger, flour, horseradish. 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.
More pickled melon recipes
You might also like
Horseradish Sauce17 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.