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Cincinnati Five-way Chili

A chili with onion, garlic, spices, stewed tomatoes, water, vinegar, and honey, simmered and served over pasta.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Cincinnati Five-way Chili

Time30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the chili

  1. Cook onion and garlic until tender.

  2. Stir in chili powder, paprika, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

  3. Add stewed tomatoes, water, red wine vinegar, and honey.

  4. Reduce heat to low.

  5. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened and flavors are blended.

Serve

  1. Serve over pasta.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

133Calories
3 gProtein
2 gFat
30 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Honey1 tbsp (21g)64
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cumin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  5. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Onion
Softens as it cooks, adding sweetness and a savory base to the sauce.
Stewed tomatoes
Provide the liquid and body that reduce into the thick chili sauce.
Chili powder
Supplies the main chili flavor and warmth of the sauce.
Honey
Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar.
Red wine vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the rich, spiced tomato sauce.

The step that matters

Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Simmering lets water evaporate so the sauce thickens and the spices blend. Stirring occasionally prevents scorching on the bottom of the pot, especially as the sauce reduces.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, tomato, red wine):

  1. Cardamomfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Oreganofits better
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, tomato, red wine. 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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