Name: Cucumber Catsup
Ingredients: medium sized cucumbers; 1 small green pepper, chopped finely; 1 tablespoon salt; pure cider vinegar

Why it works: Cider and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Cucumber Catsup

Ingredients

medium sized cucumbers
1 small green pepper, chopped finely
1 tablespoon salt
pure cider vinegar

Directions

Grate the cucumbers.
Chop the green pepper very finely and add it to the grated cucumbers.
Sprinkle the salt over the mixture.
Place the mixture in a cheesecloth bag and press out the juice.
Transfer the pulp to a bowl and add pure cider vinegar until it reaches the consistency of catsup.
Pour the mixture into glass cans or bottles and seal.

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.

Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,431 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,734 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Cucumber + peppertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,991 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Cucumber + cidertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together572 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).