Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Pickled Onions
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the onions
Remove the outer skins from the onions until they are clean and white.
Soak the onions in brine for three days, then drain.
Layer the jar
In a jar, layer the onions three inches deep, sprinkling with horseradish, cinnamon bark, cloves, and cayenne pepper.
Repeat the layering until the jar is full, using ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons chopped horseradish, 2 teaspoons cloves, and 4 tablespoons cinnamon bark for every gallon of pickles.
Add the vinegar
Bring the vinegar to a boil, add 1 quart of brown sugar for every gallon, and pour it hot over the onions.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Horse + radishtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together529 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Radish + cinnamontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together69 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Radish + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together196 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Small silver-skinned onions
- The main vegetable, which becomes mild, tender and tangy as it pickles.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps the pickle keep.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharp vinegar.
- Horseradish (in the method)
- Contributes a sharp, pungent heat that mellows during pickling.
- Cinnamon bark
- Adds warm, sweet aroma to the pickling liquid and onions.
- Cayenne pepper
- Adds a background heat that spreads through the onions as they sit.
The step that matters
Pouring the hot vinegar over the onions. The vinegar must be fully boiling so the sugar dissolves and the spices are carried into the onions. Filling the jar so the onions stay submerged matters because vinegar's acidity is what preserves them and sharpens their flavour.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, horse, radish, cinnamon, clove, pepper, sugar):
- Mustardfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Beetrootfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, horse, radish, cinnamon, clove, pepper, sugar. 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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