Name: To Pickle Gherkins
Ingredients: Gherkins; Vinegar; Salt; Spices (such as mustard seeds, peppercorns, and dill)

Why it works: Mustard and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 560 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Pickle Gherkins

Ingredients

Gherkins
Vinegar
Salt
Spices (such as mustard seeds, peppercorns, and dill)

Directions

Wash the gherkins thoroughly and trim the ends.
In a pot, combine vinegar, salt, and spices; bring to a boil.
Pack the gherkins into sterilized jars.
Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the gherkins, ensuring they are fully submerged.
Seal the jars and store in a cool, dark place for at least a month before using.

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.

Mustard + dilltop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together560 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Vinegar + dilltop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together659 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).