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Ginger Catsup

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and garlic are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,090 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Ginger Catsup

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a pot, combine Jamaica pepper, black pepper, garlic, port wine lees, and anchovies.

  2. Add the liquor from the walnuts and bring to a boil.

  3. Let it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring well.

  4. Remove from heat and let it sit for 2 days.

  5. Boil the mixture again until it reduces by one-third.

  6. Once cooled, transfer to bottles, cork tightly, and seal with wax.

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. Pepper + garlictop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,090 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Pepper + port winetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,804 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  3. Garlic + port winetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together216 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Swap the garlic

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

  1. Clovefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, port wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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