Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,189 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and chop the tomatoes.
Cook
In a large pot, combine the tomatoes, sugar, and vinegar.
Add cloves, cinnamon, and other spices to taste.
Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for five hours, stirring occasionally.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Tomato + cinnamontop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,348 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Tomato + clovetop 12% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,474 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,779 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Form the bulk of the sauce and supply most of its body and moisture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the vinegar and tomatoes.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps keep the sauce tangy.
The step that matters
Simmer and stir for five hours. A long, gentle simmer lets the tomatoes break down and the liquid reduce slowly. Stirring regularly keeps sugar-rich sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pot and scorching, which would add a burnt taste.
Flavor stand-ins for the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, sugar, vinegar, cinnamon):
- Cardamomabout as good a flavor fit
- Clovethe original
- Allspiceabout as good a flavor fit
- Nutmegabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, sugar, vinegar, cinnamon. 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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