Why it works: Tomato and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,377 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Chili Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Combine the tomatoes, green peppers, and onions in a large pot.
Add the salt, brown sugar, and cider vinegar.
Boil the mixture for 3 hours.
Just before removing from heat, stir in the celery seed.
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.
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Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,377 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Form the bulk and body of the sauce while their juices release and cook down.
- Green peppers
- Add vegetal bulk and a grassy, slightly bitter flavor that cooking mellows.
- White onions
- Contribute savory depth and sweetness as they soften and break down during long simmering.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and molasses notes that balance the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Cider vinegar
- Provides acidity that brightens the sauce and helps keep the cooked vegetables tangy.
- Celery seed
- Contributes a warm, aromatic celery flavor that fades if cooked too long.
The step that matters
Adding the celery seed at the end. Celery seed contains volatile aromatic compounds that evaporate under prolonged heat. Stirring it in just before removing the pot from the heat keeps more of its fragrance and flavor in the finished sauce.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper, sugar, cider, vinegar, celery):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Cucumberfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, sugar, cider, vinegar, celery. 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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