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Sauce

Tomato Catsup

A tomato sauce made with tomatoes, onions, vinegar, sugar, salt, ginger, nutmeg, mustard, cloves, cinnamon bark, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By United Methodist Church (Grayville, Ill.) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,324 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Tomato Catsup

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Boil the tomatoes and onions and strain through a strainer.

  2. Add the vinegar, sugar, salt, ginger, nutmeg, mustard, cloves, cinnamon bark, and red pepper to taste.

  3. Tie the cloves and cinnamon in a small sack.

  4. Boil until thick; bottle and seal.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

148Calories
3 gProtein
2 gFat
32 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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

By United Methodist Church (Grayville, Ill.). 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. See the original page.

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. Ginger + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Ginger + teatop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together216 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Tomatoes
Provide the main body and flavor base of the ketchup.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the ketchup its tang and helps preserve it.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the acidity of the vinegar and tomatoes.
Onions
Add savory depth and aroma to the tomato base.

The step that matters

Boil until thick. Long simmering evaporates water so the sauce thickens. Stopping too early leaves it thin and watery, and it may spoil sooner once bottled.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, ginger, nutmeg, tomato, tea, mustard):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Lettucefits better
  3. Broccolifits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, ginger, nutmeg, tomato, tea, mustard. 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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