Why it works: Vinegar and coriander are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,829 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Cherries, Pickled, Simple and Good
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Leave an inch of the stalk on the cherries and place them in bottles.
Make the spiced vinegar
Boil the vinegar with the mace, coriander seeds, white peppercorns, and cayenne or chillies.
Allow the spiced vinegar to cool before adding it to the cherries.
Pickle and store
Cover the cherries with good vinegar and let them sit for three weeks.
Tie down the bottles and keep them for a month 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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Vinegar + coriandertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,829 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Mace + coriandertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together281 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Vinegar + macetop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,415 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fine kentish cherries
- Provide the fruit that softens and absorbs the spiced vinegar flavour.
- Good vinegar
- Acts as the preserving liquid and carries the sharpness that flavours the cherries.
- Coriander seeds
- Add a warm, citrusy aroma to the spiced vinegar.
- White peppercorns
- Contribute a mild, sharp heat that builds in the spiced vinegar.
The step that matters
Cooling the spiced vinegar before adding it to the cherries. Pouring hot vinegar over fruit can soften the cherries and cook them unevenly, spoiling their texture. Letting the vinegar cool first keeps the fruit firm while it steeps.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, coriander):
- Cuminfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Dillfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, coriander. 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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