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To Pickle Beet-root

A method for pickling beetroot using vinegar, salt, and cayenne pepper or white peppercorns.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

To Pickle Beet-root

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beetroot

  1. Boil the beet-root until tender.

  2. Let the beet-root cool completely.

  3. Peel the beet-root.

  4. Slice the beet-root.

Pickle

  1. Place the slices in a jar.

  2. Cover the slices with the cooled vinegar.

  3. Add 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt.

  4. Add the cayenne pepper or white peppercorns.

  5. Seal the jar.

  6. Let the jar sit until ready to use.

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. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Beet-root
Forms the main body of the pickle and provides its colour and earthy sweetness.
Vinegar
Acidifies the liquid, preserving the beetroot and giving it a sharp, tangy flavour.

The step that matters

Let the beet-root cool completely before adding the vinegar. Pouring hot vinegar onto warm beetroot can soften its texture and cause it to bleed colour unevenly. Cooling it fully lets the slices hold their firmness and take up the brine evenly.

“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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