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Preserve

Chow Chow

A pickled relish of chopped cabbage, cucumbers, peppers, green tomatoes and onions, seasoned with spices and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cucumber and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,405 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Chow Chow

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Chop the onions and let them stand in water for 10 minutes.

  2. Chop the other ingredients finely and sprinkle salt over them, adding the onions.

  3. Let the mixture stand overnight.

  4. Drain the mixture for 2 hours.

Macerate and season

  1. Pour on weak vinegar and let it stand for 24 hours.

  2. Pour off the vinegar and add 1-2 cups of sugar for every gallon of the mixture.

  3. Pour on good vinegar and season with mace, cloves, and mustard.

  4. Pour the vinegar on hot and keep covered closely.

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. Cucumber + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,405 recipes

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

  2. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

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

  3. Cabbage + cucumbertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together722 recipes

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

  4. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  5. Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 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

Cabbage
Provides bulk and a crisp texture that holds up through the long soak.
Cucumbers
Adds crunch and fresh, mild flavor to the relish.
Green tomatoes
Contribute tartness and body, helping the relish hold together as it cooks.
Onions
Add pungent aroma and savory depth to the mixture.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.
Vinegar
Provides acidity that preserves the vegetables and gives the relish its tang.

The step that matters

Draining after the overnight salting. Salt draws water out of the vegetables. Draining off that liquid before adding vinegar and sugar keeps the relish crisp and stops it from becoming watery and diluted.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, cucumber, pepper, tomato, onion, sugar, vinegar):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Dillfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, cucumber, pepper, tomato, onion, sugar, 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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