Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Tomato Catsup
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.
Prepare the tomatoes
Chop the tomatoes and mix with salt.
Let them stand for 24 hours.
Cook and strain
Boil the tomatoes with black pepper, cloves, allspice, red pepper, and onion until reduced to pulp.
Pour the mixture into an earthen pan to cool.
Once cool, strain through a coarse sieve and bottle for use.
Combine the coarser parts with spices in a jar and cover with vinegar.
Seal bottles with paper dipped in egg white to exclude air.
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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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Ripe tomatoes
- Provide the main body, pulp and tangy flavour of the ketchup.
- Black pepper
- Adds sharp, warm pungency that balances the tomato's sweetness.
- Cloves
- Contribute warm, aromatic spice notes that carry the flavour of the sauce.
- Allspice
- Adds a blended warm aroma that rounds out the spiced flavour.
- Onion or shallot
- Adds savoury depth and aroma as it cooks down into the pulp.
The step that matters
Boil the tomatoes until reduced to pulp. Long boiling evaporates water and breaks down the tomato's cell walls, so the sauce thickens and the spices infuse evenly. Stopping early leaves it thin and watery.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper, clove, allspice, vinegar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, clove, allspice, vinegar. 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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