Why it works: Cider and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,431 recipes mention both. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓
Tomato Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel the tomatoes carefully, removing all seams and rough spots.
Make the jelly
Combine the tomatoes with sugar, white ginger, and mace.
Boil the mixture until it reaches a stiff jelly consistency.
Add enough cider vinegar to preserve the jelly.
Jar
Pour into jars and seal.
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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Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Tomato + gingertop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,887 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Ginger + macetop 11% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together2,152 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Tomato + vinegartop 16% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,063 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ripe tomatoes
- Form the bulk and body of the jelly as they cook down.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the mixture set into a firm jelly.
- Cider vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens flavour and helps preserve the jelly.
- Mace
- Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavour.
The step that matters
Boiling to a stiff jelly. Boiling evaporates water and concentrates the sugar, which lets the mixture set into a firm jelly as it cools. Stop when it reaches a stiff consistency, since boiling too long can make it overly thick and sticky.
Flavor stand-ins for the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, sugar, ginger, cider, vinegar):
- Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
- Corianderbetter flavor fit
- Allspicebetter flavor fit
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, sugar, ginger, cider, vinegar. 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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