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Cauliflower Pickle

A pickled cauliflower preserved in a seasoned vinegar brine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Cauliflower and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 687 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Cauliflower Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cauliflower

  1. Select a fully grown cauliflower, remove all leaves, and cut the flower into bite-sized bunches.

  2. Make a strong brine with water and coarse sea salt, pour it over the cauliflower, and let it stand for two days.

  3. Wash the cauliflower in cold water and drain well.

Pickle and seal

  1. Place the cauliflower into self-sealing jars.

  2. Boil enough good cider vinegar to cover the cauliflower. Mix in the celery seed, black pepper, mace, white mustard seed, and cinnamon bark.

  3. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the cauliflower and seal the jars while hot.

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. Cauliflower + mustardtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  2. Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Cauliflower + celerytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together488 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

What each ingredient does

Cauliflower
Forms the crisp, bite-sized body of the pickle that holds the brine and vinegar.
Cider vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the cauliflower and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
Coarse sea salt
Draws water out of the cauliflower during the brine, firming its texture and seasoning it.
White mustard seed
Releases pungent flavour into the hot vinegar, adding sharpness and aroma.
Celery seed
Adds a warm, earthy aroma that infuses the vinegar.

The step that matters

Pour the hot vinegar and seal the jars while hot. Hot vinegar penetrates the cauliflower and drives air out of the jar as it cools, creating a vacuum seal. Letting it cool before sealing risks a weak seal and spoilage.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cauliflower, celery, pepper, mustard, cinnamon, cider, vinegar):

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Turmericfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cauliflower, celery, pepper, mustard, cinnamon, 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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