Why it works: Cucumber and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,734 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyl acetate, which smells fruit. The science ↓
Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Brine
Add 1 pint of coarse sea salt to 100 cucumbers.
Pour enough boiling water over the cucumbers to cover them.
Tie the container tightly to keep the steam in and let it stand for 24 hours.
Dry and pickle
Wipe the cucumbers dry, being careful not to break the skins.
Place the cucumbers in a stone jar and pour boiling vinegar over them to cover well.
Tie the jar tightly, and they will be ready to use in a few days.
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.
-
Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,734 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cucumbers
- The main vegetable that becomes the pickle, firmed and flavoured by the brine and vinegar.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the cucumbers and seasons them during the initial brine.
- Boiling vinegar
- Adds acidity that preserves the cucumbers and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
The step that matters
Wipe the cucumbers dry without breaking the skins. Damaged skins let the brine and vinegar penetrate unevenly and invite spoilage, so the cucumbers must stay intact before they are covered with vinegar.
“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.
More cucumber pickles recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.