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Chelee Sauce

A thick tomato sauce made with tomatoes, onions, peppers, vinegar, sugar, salt, spices, and celery seed.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,377 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Chelee Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Make the first batch

  1. Combine 24 ripe tomatoes, 8 onions, 6 peppers, 8 cups vinegar, 8 tablespoonfuls sugar, 8 tablespoonfuls salt, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon allspice, 1 tablespoon nutmeg, 1 tablespoon cloves.

  2. Boil all together well, and seal while hot.

Make the second batch

  1. Combine 1/2 bushel tomatoes, 1 pint salt, 3 tablespoons black pepper, 2 tablespoons allspice, 6 pods red pepper, 1 dozen onions, 1 quart sugar.

  2. Pour boiling water over tomatoes to remove skins, mash, and put to boil with 1 quart vinegar.

  3. Tie spices in a bag and crush them, then boil all together until thick.

  4. Pass through a colander; then add 2 tablespoons celery seed, season with cayenne pepper to taste.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

156Calories
4 gProtein
1 gFat
36 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Celery Seed1 stalk (40g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
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 Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo. 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. Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Cinnamon + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,009 recipes

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

  4. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 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
Form the bulk of the sauce and supply its body, moisture and flavor as they cook down.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the sauce its tang and helps preserve it.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar and tomatoes.
Onions
Add savory depth and aroma to the sauce base.
Red pepper pods
Add heat and pungency to the sauce.

The step that matters

Boil until thick. Thickening comes from water evaporating as the tomatoes cook down, so the sauce must simmer long enough to reduce. Stopping early leaves it thin, and cooking too hard can scorch the sugars on the bottom of the pot.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, tomato, pepper, cinnamon, celery):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, tomato, pepper, cinnamon, celery. 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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