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Mangoes and Large Cucumbers

Pickled mangoes preserved in a spiced vinegar brine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 859 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Mangoes and Large Cucumbers

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mangoes

  1. Choose heavy, sound mangoes and soak them in saltwater for six days.

  2. Cut a square piece from the side and scoop out the seeds.

  3. Fill the cavity with mustard seeds, white pepper, shallots, and garlic, then tightly seal the opening.

Pickle

  1. Pour boiling vinegar over the mangoes.

  2. Add vine leaves on top.

  3. Cover the jar tightly to retain steam and let it cool.

  4. Repeat pouring hot vinegar over the mangoes four or five times.

Make the spiced vinegar and finish

  1. In a pot, combine 4 quarts of vinegar with ginger, white pepper, chillies, allspice, and horseradish.

  2. Boil the mixture for 30 minutes.

  3. Cool the mixture.

  4. Pour it over the mangoes after draining the vinegar from them.

  5. Seal the jars with bladder and leather.

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. Mustard + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together859 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Shallot + garlictop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,000 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Shallot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,677 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Mango + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together280 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

What each ingredient does

Mangoes
Form the body of the pickle, becoming soft and absorbing the spiced vinegar flavour.
Coarse sea salt
Draws moisture out of the mangoes and seasons them during the long saltwater soak.
Mustard seeds
Add a sharp, pungent flavour that infuses the mangoes from the inside.
Vinegar
Provides acidity that preserves the mangoes and gives the pickle its sour bite.
Shallots
Contribute a mild, savoury aroma that mellows during pickling.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that mellows and deepens during pickling.

The step that matters

Soaking the mangoes in saltwater. Salt draws water out of the fruit and firms its flesh, so the mangoes take up the vinegar evenly rather than turning mushy. Skipping or shortening the soak leaves the fruit soft and less well preserved.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mango, mustard, shallot, clove, garlic, vinegar, ginger):

  1. Turmericfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Cardamomfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mango, mustard, shallot, clove, garlic, vinegar, ginger. 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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