Name: Brine Pickles
Ingredients: clean grape leaves; pickles; water; coarse sea salt; baking soda; mild vinegar; dill or desired spices

Why it works: Vinegar and dill work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 659 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Brine Pickles

Ingredients

Directions

Wash and rub the pickles well in several waters.
Lay a layer of grape leaves in the bottom of a jar.
Alternate layers of leaves and pickles until the jar is nearly full, topping with plenty of leaves.
Boil water and coarse sea salt together to make a strong brine, skimming and cooling it.
Pour the cooled brine over the pickles and let stand for a few days.
Drain and add new brine for better preservation.
When ready to use, take out the desired amount of pickles and sprinkle with baking soda.
Pour scalding water over them and let drain for 10 to 15 minutes.
Rinse with cold water and soak until too salty to eat.
Boil mild vinegar and pour it over the pickles, adding dill or spices if desired.

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.

Vinegar + dilltop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together659 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Grape + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,589 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Grape + dilltop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together110 recipes

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