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Broccoli and Cauliflower

A pickled dish of broccoli and cauliflower steeped in brine and then cured in a curry‑infused vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Broccoli and cauliflower match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 127 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Broccoli and Cauliflower

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut away all leaves and pare the stalks of the broccoli and cauliflower. Pull away the flowers by branches.

  2. Steep the vegetables in brine for two days, then drain. Wipe the vegetables dry.

Pickle

  1. Prepare hot pickle by infusing three ounces of curry powder in every quart of vinegar for three days.

  2. Submerge the vegetables in the prepared hot pickle.

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. Broccoli + cauliflowertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together127 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Cauliflower + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together888 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Broccoli + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,286 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Broccoli and cauliflower
Firm florets and stalks that hold their shape and crunch after pickling.
Curry powder
Infuses the vinegar with aroma and color, flavoring the vegetables.
Vinegar
Acidic liquid that preserves the vegetables and gives the pickle its sharp taste.
Brine
Salt solution that draws out moisture and seasons the vegetables before pickling.

The step that matters

Wipe the vegetables dry. Surface water left on the vegetables dilutes the vinegar pickle and weakens its acidity and flavor. Thorough drying after the brine helps the pickle stay sharp and the vegetables stay firm.

Swap the broccoli

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

  1. Cucumberfits better
  2. Radishfits about as well
  3. Mustardfits about as well
  4. Broccolithe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cauliflower, 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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