Why it works: Cucumber and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 530 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Summer Dill Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Wash and slice cucumbers.
Layer cucumbers and dill in a jar.
In a pot, combine equal parts vinegar and water with coarse sea salt to taste.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then pour over the cucumbers.
Seal the jar and let it cool before refrigerating.
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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Cucumber + dilltop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together530 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,734 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
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Dill + vinegartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together659 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the dill
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, vinegar):
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Dillthe original
- Peppermintfits less well
- Garlicfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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