Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Watermel Sweet Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rinds
Dissolve the alum in the water and pour it over the watermelon rinds; let it sit for several hours on the back of the stove.
Remove the rinds and place them in cold water until cool.
Cook the syrup
Combine brown sugar, vinegar, and the spice bag; boil the rinds in the mixture for 30 minutes.
Skim the mixture well, add the watermelon rinds, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.
Remove the rinds and place them in stone jars.
Boil the syrup for an additional 5 minutes and pour it over the rinds.
Repeat and store
The next day, pour off the syrup, boil it down again, and repeat for three mornings, keeping the spice bag in the syrup.
After the final boiling, pour the syrup and spices over the pickles and leave in the jar until used.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + cassiatop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together116 recipes
Shared aroma: cinnamyl acetate (sweet aromatic, cinnamon).
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Cassia + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together194 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Watermelon rinds
- Form the pickle itself, becoming tender and absorbing the sweet, spiced syrup.
- Alum
- Firms the rind tissue so it stays crisp rather than turning mushy during long cooking.
- Brown sugar
- Provides sweetness and body to the syrup and helps preserve the pickles.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps keep the pickles preserved.
- Whole mixed spices
- Infuse the syrup with aroma from cinnamon, allspice, cassia buds, and cloves.
The step that matters
Dissolving and soaking the alum. Alum is a firming salt that tightens the rind's cell structure. Using too much, or rinsing poorly before cooking, can leave a harsh or astringent taste; the rinds should be fully covered and well drained.
Swap the cassia
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, allspice, clove):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Gingerfits better
- Cassiathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, allspice, clove. 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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