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Sauce

Devil's Sauce

A sweet and tangy Bahamian sauce made with brown sugar, ketchup, pickapeppa, guava paste, salt, and vinegar.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Ketchup and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,099 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Devil's Sauce

Time2 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan.

  2. Simmer for 2 minutes.

  3. Cool and chill.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

82Calories
1 gProtein
1 gFat
19 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Guavanot 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. Ketchup + saucetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,099 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + ketchuptop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together260 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,147 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Ketchup + vinegartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together737 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps balance the sharp tang of the vinegar and ketchup.
Ketchup
Provides the tomato base, along with sweetness and acidity.
Vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that brightens the sauce and cuts through the sweetness.
Guava paste or jelly
Adds fruity sweetness and body, thickening the sauce as it cools.
Pickapeppa
Contributes savory, tangy and spicy depth, or heat if hot sauce is used instead.

The step that matters

Simmer for 2 minutes. Gentle heat dissolves the sugar and guava paste so the ingredients blend into one smooth sauce. Simmering too long reduces and thickens the sauce more than intended, so timing matters.

Swap the guava

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, ketchup, sauce, vinegar):

  1. Lemonfits better
  2. Red currantfits better
  3. Applefits better
  4. Guavathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, ketchup, sauce, 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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