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Beetroot, to Pickle

A preserved beetroot dish made by boiling, slicing, and marinating in vinegar with spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Beetroot and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 285 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Beetroot, to Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beetroot

  1. Wash the beetroot carefully to avoid damaging them.

  2. Boil the beetroot in boiling water for 1 hour or bake them.

  3. Let the beetroot cool completely.

  4. Scrape and slice the beetroot, then place them in a stone jar.

Pickle and seal

  1. Pour over vinegar that has been boiled with peppercorns, cloves, and red chili, or tie the spices in muslin and add them with scalded vinegar.

  2. Ensure the beetroot is fully covered with vinegar and seal the jar tightly.

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. Beetroot + clovetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together285 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Beetroot + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,630 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Beetroot
Is the main vegetable; its slices are preserved and take on the pickling liquid's flavour.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the beetroot and gives it its sharp, tangy taste.
Peppercorns
Add a mild, warm pungency to the spiced pickling liquid.
Cloves
Contribute a warm, aromatic spice flavour to the pickling liquid.
Red chili
Adds heat and a pungent kick to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Ensure the beetroot is fully covered with vinegar. Beetroot left exposed above the liquid can spoil, since the acidic vinegar only preserves the pieces it fully surrounds. Keeping every slice submerged and the jar sealed helps the pickle keep safely.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beetroot, vinegar):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Dillfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beetroot, vinegar. 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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