Name: Peach Pickles
Ingredients: ripe clingstone peaches; 1 gallon good hot vinegar; 4 pounds brown sugar; 5 whole cloves

Why it works: Peach and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 280 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Peach Pickles

Ingredients

ripe clingstone peaches
1 gallon good hot vinegar
4 pounds brown sugar
5 whole cloves

Directions

Remove the down from the peaches using a stiff brush.
In a pot, combine the hot vinegar and brown sugar.
Boil the mixture and skim until it is clear.
Add the whole cloves to the mixture.

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.

Peach + clovetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together280 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,386 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Peach + vinegartop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together348 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,308 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).