Why it works: Mustard and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,832 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Brine and alum
Soak fresh cucumbers in strong salt water for 48 hours.
Place cucumbers in a wooden vessel with a layer of grass or grape leaves at the bottom.
Sprinkle ¼ pound of pulverized alum, 1 cup of whole black pepper, 1 cup of black mustard seed, and sliced horseradish over the cucumbers, layering with grass or grape leaves.
Boil equal parts vinegar and water, or use vinegar from old pickles. Pour the boiled mixture over the cucumbers to cover them well.
Let the cucumbers stand overnight.
Pour off the vinegar. Boil the vinegar. Pour the boiled vinegar over the cucumbers again.
Repeat this process for three mornings.
Pack and seal
Transfer cucumbers to stone jars.
Add 1 tablespoon of pulverized alum, ¼ pound of whole black pepper, ¼ pound of black mustard seed, sliced horseradish, and red pepper to the jars.
Sprinkle 5 pounds of brown sugar through the cucumbers.
Pour enough cold good cider vinegar over to cover the cucumbers.
Tie up the jars tightly.
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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Mustard + horseradishtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,832 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Cucumber + horseradishtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together640 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cucumber + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,281 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh cucumbers
- Form the pickle itself, becoming crisp and firm as they cure in brine and vinegar.
- Pulverized alum
- Firms the cucumber tissue so it stays crisp through the long pickling process.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharp vinegar and salt.
- Cider vinegar
- Provides the acidity that preserves the cucumbers and gives the pickle its sour bite.
- Black mustard seed
- Adds pungent, sharp flavor that deepens as the pickle matures.
- Sliced horseradish
- Contributes a sharp, pungent aroma and heat to the brine.
The step that matters
Repeating the vinegar pour-off and reboil. Each reboil and pour-off is what drives the cucumbers to firm and cure; skipping or shortening the cycle leaves the brine weaker and the cucumbers softer.
Swap the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, mustard, horseradish, sugar, cider, vinegar):
- Radishfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
- Broccolifits about as well
- Cucumberthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, mustard, horseradish, sugar, cider, vinegar. 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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