Why it works: Walnut and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,769 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Pickled Walnuts
Ingredients
Directions
Wipe the walnuts and place them in an earthen pan.
Cover the walnuts with brine and let them soak for five to six days.
Remove the walnuts and place them in the sun for one to two days until they turn black.
Boil the pickling spice with the vinegar, then let it cool.
Pour the cooled vinegar over the walnuts in bottles, filling them completely.
Cover the bottles with parchment and tie securely with string.
Let the pickled walnuts sit for three to four months before using.
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.
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Walnut + vinegartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,769 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Walnut + eggtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,037 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + vinegartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,922 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and vinegar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,922 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vinegar):
- Sesamefits better
- Peasfits about as well
- Soybeanfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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