Name: Chili Pepper Sauce for Mexican Beans
Ingredients: 20 gallons of tomatoes, chopped; 50 pounds of fresh or salted peppers, chopped; 20 pounds of dry chili peppers, chopped; 20 pounds of onions, chopped; 1 pound of garlic, minced; 15 pounds of coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt'); 25 gallons of water

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Chili Pepper Sauce for Mexican Beans

Ingredients

20 gallons of tomatoes, chopped
50 pounds of fresh or salted peppers, chopped
20 pounds of dry chili peppers, chopped
20 pounds of onions, chopped
1 pound of garlic, minced
15 pounds of coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt')
25 gallons of water

Directions

Prepare

Chop the tomatoes finely using an Enterprise chopper.
Chop the onions and mince the garlic.

Cook

In a large kettle, combine the chopped tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, salt, and water.
Cook the mixture at a rolling boil for about 10 minutes.

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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + garlictop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 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: Provide the bulk and liquid body of the sauce as they break down during cooking.
Peppers: Supply the main heat and pepper flavor of the sauce.
Dry chili peppers: Add concentrated heat and deeper chili flavor to the sauce.
Onions: Add savory aroma and body as they soften in the mixture.
Garlic: Adds pungent aroma that mellows during cooking.

The step that matters

Cook at a full rolling boil for about 10 minutes. A rolling boil heats the whole kettle quickly and evenly, so the chopped vegetables soften and the mixture is cooked through rather than just warmed. Holding the boil for the stated time gives the sauce a consistent cook.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, onion, garlic):

Chivefits better
Okrafits better
Spinachfits better
Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, onion, garlic. 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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Caper Sauce180 recipes

Brown Sauce141 recipes

Dutch Sauce74 recipes

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Chili Pepper Sauce for Mexican Beans