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Mustard Pickle

A pickled mixture of green tomatoes, onions, cauliflower, mustard, and red peppers in vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cauliflower and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 687 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Mustard Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Boil the green tomatoes, onions, and cauliflowers until tender.

  2. Slice the vegetables, cover with coarse sea salt, and drain overnight.

Pickle

  1. Add the mustard and red peppers to the drained vegetables.

  2. Cover with vinegar and simmer for the entire day.

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. Cauliflower + mustardtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  2. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Green tomatoes
Provide the bulk and tart flavor of the pickle while holding their shape when cooked.
Onions
Add sweetness and savory aroma as they soften during cooking.
Cauliflowers
Provide firm pieces and bulk that absorb the pickling liquid.
Mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavor that defines the pickle.
Red peppers
Add mild sweetness and color to the pickle.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens flavor and helps preserve the vegetables.

The step that matters

Simmering in vinegar for the entire day. Long simmering softens and breaks down vegetables, so they can turn mushy. Gentle heat and frequent checks help the pieces stay intact while the vinegar flavors them.

Swap the tomato

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

  1. Horseradishfits better
  2. Broccolifits better
  3. Radishfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, cauliflower, mustard, pepper, 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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