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To Pickle Lemons and Limes

A method of pickling lemons and limes with salt, vinegar, spices, and garlic.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and capsicum match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,571 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Pickle Lemons and Limes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lemons

  1. Wipe the lemons clean.

  2. Make four deep incisions in each lemon, from stalk to blossom end, without dividing the fruit.

  3. Stuff the lemons with salt.

  4. Place them in a deep dish in a sunny spot.

  5. Turn the lemons.

  6. Baste them with their own juice.

  7. Let them sit for 7-10 days.

  8. Rub the lemons with turmeric (if using).

Pack the jar

  1. Place them in a stone jar with garlic and onions.

  2. Boil the vinegar with ginger, black pepper, and mustard seed.

  3. Pour the hot vinegar over the lemons.

  4. Cover the jar with a plate.

  5. Let it sit overnight.

  6. Add capsicums or chilies.

  7. Seal the jar with a skin and thick paper.

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. Pepper + capsicumtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,571 recipes

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

  2. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,154 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Mustard + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Ginger + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,402 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Lemons
Their salt-cured peel and juice supply the sour, aromatic base of the pickle.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out juice and softens the lemon rind during the curing period.
White wine vinegar
Acidic brine that preserves the lemons and keeps the pickle sharp.
Ginger
Adds warm, aromatic pungency that infuses into the hot vinegar.
Mustard seed
Contributes sharp, pungent flavour to the spiced vinegar.
Onions
Add sweetness and soft texture as they absorb the brine.

The step that matters

Let the lemons sit for 7-10 days in the sun. Salt and juice must soften the rind and draw out liquid so the fruit cures evenly. Turning and basting keep every surface in contact with the brine, so skipping these steps can leave the rind tough or uneven.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, white wine, vinegar, pepper, mustard, capsicum, garlic):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, white wine, vinegar, pepper, mustard, capsicum, garlic. 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.

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