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Spiced Vinegar for Pickles

A vinegar infused with mustard seed, sugar, celery seed, allspice, turmeric, salt, pepper, mace, nutmeg, onions, and horseradish for pickling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Spiced Vinegar for Pickles

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large pot, combine the vinegar, mustard seed, sugar, celery seed, allspice, turmeric powder, coarse sea salt, black pepper, mace, nutmegs, onions, and horseradish.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

  3. Remove from heat and let it cool before using.

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. Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Mustard + allspicetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,928 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  3. Mustard + turmerictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,279 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Allspice + turmerictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together629 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Celery + turmerictop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,356 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Vinegar
Provides the acidity that gives the pickling liquid its sharp, preserving character.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar and adds sweetness to the liquid.
Mustard seed
Contributes a pungent, slightly bitter flavor that deepens as the spices steep.
Onions
Release their flavor into the hot liquid, adding savory depth and aroma.
Horseradish
Adds a sharp, pungent heat that fades somewhat with cooking.

The step that matters

Dissolving the sugar fully at a boil. Stirring until the sugar dissolves ensures it does not sit undissolved on the bottom of the pot, where it can scorch. A clear, fully dissolved liquid also keeps the flavors evenly distributed before cooling.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, mustard, sugar, celery, allspice, turmeric, pepper):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, mustard, sugar, celery, allspice, turmeric, pepper. 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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