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Green Tomato Soy

Pickled green tomatoes with vinegar, sugar, onions, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Green Tomato Soy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Slice the green tomatoes without peeling them.

  2. Slice the onions.

  3. Pack the tomatoes and onions in alternate layers in a kettle, sprinkling sugar and spices on each layer.

  4. Let the mixture stand for 1 hour before adding the vinegar.

Cook and jar

  1. Cook gently for 30 minutes after it reaches a boil.

  2. Pack the hot mixture into small glass jars.

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. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

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

  3. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

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

  5. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Green tomatoes
Provide the bulk of the pickle and its tart, firm texture once cooked.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens flavor and helps preserve the pickle.
Onions
Add savory flavor and body to the pickle as they soften during cooking.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar and tomatoes.

The step that matters

Cook gently for 30 minutes after it reaches a boil. Gentle simmering softens the tomatoes and onions and lets the flavors blend, while a hard boil can break down the pieces and scorch the sugar on the bottom of the kettle.

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

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

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Mustardbetter flavor fit
  3. Carrotbetter flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, vinegar, sugar, allspice, clove, celery, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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