Name: Cherry Olives
Ingredients: 6 quarts cherries; 2 cups strong cider vinegar; 1 gallon water; 1 cup coarse sea salt; ½ teaspoon white mustard; clean, dry grape leaves

Why it works: Cider and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Cherry Olives

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cherries

Select nice bunches of cherries that are not quite ripe enough to can.
Remove all blossoms from the stems and wash the cherries carefully.
Pack the cherries into pint jars.

Brine and seal

Boil the vinegar, water, and salt mixture well, then pour it over the cherries in the jars.
Cover the jars tightly and let them stand for 5 minutes in a warm place.
Pour the liquid back into the kettle, boil again, and pour it over the cherries.
Add ½ teaspoon of white mustard to each jar.
Lay a clean, dry grape leaf on top of each jar and seal.

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.

Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,431 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cider + grapetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together349 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Cider + mustardtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,414 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Vinegar + grapetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,589 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Cherries: Provide the fruit that is pickled and give the dish its main flavor and texture.
Strong cider vinegar: Adds acidity that preserves the fruit and gives the pickle its sharp, tangy flavor.
Coarse sea salt: Seasons the brine and helps draw flavor into the fruit while it pickles.