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Pickles. _ Gherkins.

A method for pickling small cucumbers (gherkins) in a vinegar brine with spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,620 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pickles. _ Gherkins.

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the gherkins

  1. Prick the gherkins with a needle in several places.

  2. Soak them in a pan of cold water with enough salt to make a strong brine for three hours.

  3. Remove the gherkins, wipe them dry with a clean cloth, and place them in a saucepan over gentle heat.

Make the pickling liquor

  1. Add strong brown pickling vinegar, allspice, half the quantity of whole black pepper, a little brown ginger, and cayenne pepper.

  2. Let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool.

Jar and rest

  1. Pour the cooled mixture over the gherkins in a jar and seal tightly.

  2. They will be ready to use in three to four days.

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. Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,620 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Cucumber + allspicetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together501 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  4. Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,734 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  5. Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 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

Prickly cucumbers (gherkin)
The firm flesh holds its crunch through brining and simmering in vinegar.
Strong brown pickling vinegar
Provides the acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the gherkins.
Allspice
Adds a warm, aromatic spiced flavour to the pickling liquor.
Brown ginger
Adds a warm, aromatic spice note to the pickling liquor.
Cayenne pepper
Adds gentle heat to the finished pickle.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool before pouring it over the gherkins. Pouring hot liquid over the gherkins would soften their texture and cook them further, so they stay firmer when cooled liquid is used.

Swap the cucumber

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, allspice, pepper, ginger):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Cucumberthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, allspice, pepper, ginger. 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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