Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Black Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Sprinkle the salt over the sliced tomatoes and let them stand overnight.
In the morning, squeeze out the salt and place the tomatoes in a kettle.
Cook
Mix the spices together in a bowl and sprinkle them over the tomatoes.
Add the vinegar and boil slowly for 5 hours, stirring frequently to avoid burning.
Jar and seal
Transfer the pickles to jars, ensuring the vinegar covers them well.
Cork and seal the jars.
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 + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Tomato + mustardtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,482 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Tomato + vinegartop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,063 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + mustardtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,424 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Green tomatoes
- Provide the main body of the pickle, softened and infused by the salt and vinegar.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the tomatoes, firming them and concentrating their flavor before cooking.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharp acidity of the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that preserves the pickle and gives it its sharp tang.
- Dry mustard
- Adds pungent, sharp flavor that complements the sweet and sour balance.
The step that matters
Simmer slowly and stir often. Five hours of slow boiling with sugar can scorch on the bottom of the kettle, leaving a bitter burnt taste. Frequent stirring keeps the sugar and solids moving so the pickle cooks evenly and the vinegar reduces gradually.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, mustard):
- Horseradishfits better
- Radishfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, mustard. 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.
More pickled tomatoes recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipes
Tomato Bisque61 recipes
Cream Tomato Soup28 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.