Why it works: Vinegar and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Pickled Pears
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Boil the pears in water until soft.
Combine vinegar and sugar in a separate pot to make the syrup.
Place the mixed spices in a muslin bag and add it to the vinegar-sugar mixture.
Pickle
Add the soft pears to the syrup and scald slowly.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Pear + vinegartop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together380 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Pear + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,079 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pears
- Provide the fruit that is softened and then absorbs the spiced vinegar syrup.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that preserves the fruit and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar and adds sweetness to the syrup.
- Mixed spices
- Supply aroma and flavour that infuse into the syrup and the pears.
The step that matters
Scald the pears slowly in the syrup. Heating gently lets the pears soften and take up the syrup without breaking apart. Rapid boiling can tear the fruit and make the sugar and vinegar reduce unevenly, so the pears may turn mushy or the syrup may over-thicken.
Swap the pear
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits about as well
- Pineapplefits about as well
- Pearthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar. 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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