Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Cherry Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Brine the cherries
Place the Bing cherries in a large stone jar and cover with very strong brine.
Let the cherries stand for 24 hours, then drain and wash them.
Pickle and store
In a pot, combine slightly weakened vinegar, sugar, and coarse sea salt.
Heat the mixture on the stove until it boils, then pour it over the cherries.
Leave the stems on the cherries and store them in a stone crock.
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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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bing cherries
- Form the fruit that is softened and flavored by the brine and vinegar.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharp vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that preserves and sharpens the pickling liquid.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the brine and helps draw moisture out of the cherries.
The step that matters
Pouring the boiling pickling liquid over the cherries. The liquid must be fully boiled before it is poured, so the sugar and salt dissolve completely and the mixture is hot enough to help preserve the fruit. Partly dissolved mixtures can leave the pickle uneven or gritty.
“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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