Why it works: Mustard and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Mixed Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pickling liquid
Heat vinegar to boiling point.
Mix ground mustard with a little cold vinegar until smooth, then stir the mustard mixture into the hot vinegar.
Add mixed spices, removing most small red peppers to avoid excessive heat.
Prepare the vegetables
Cook small green tomatoes, cucumbers, white onions, and cauliflower in salt and water until tender.
Combine and seal
Drop the hot vegetables into the vinegar mixture.
Pack into cans and seal.
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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Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Mustard + cucumbertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,281 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + cucumbertop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,405 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,377 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that preserves the pickles and gives them their sharp flavour.
- Ground mustard
- Adds pungent flavour and helps thicken the pickling liquid.
- Brown sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness and body.
- Celery seed
- Contributes a warm, aromatic celery flavour to the pickling liquid.
- Small green tomatoes
- Serve as the main firm vegetable that holds its texture in the brine.
The step that matters
Cook the vegetables until just tender. Vegetables cooked too long turn soft and mushy, while undercooked pieces stay raw and firm. Tender but intact pieces absorb the vinegar brine evenly and keep their texture after sealing.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, mustard, sugar, celery, pepper, tomato, cucumber):
- Lettucefits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, mustard, sugar, celery, pepper, tomato, cucumber. 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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