Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Tomato Mustard
Ingredients
Directions
Boil one peck of ripe tomatoes with two onions, six red peppers, and four cloves of garlic for one hour.
Add a half pint or half pound of salt, three tablespoonfuls of black pepper, half ounce ginger, half ounce all‑spice, half ounce of mace, and half ounce of cloves.
Boil again for one hour longer.
When cold, add one pint of vinegar and a quarter pound of mustard.
If you like it very hot, add a tablespoonful of cayenne.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 11 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Mace | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Garlic + mustardtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,053 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,402 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
- Ripe tomatoes
- Provide the main body and liquid base that the sauce cooks down into.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and helps preserve it.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour that gives the sauce its character.
- Onions
- Add savoury sweetness and aromatic depth as they soften during boiling.
The step that matters
Adding the vinegar and mustard when cold. Vinegar is acidic and added to a hot mixture can volatilise sharp notes and dull the mustard's flavour. Letting the cooked base cool first keeps the mustard pungent and the balance even.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, garlic, pepper, ginger, vinegar, mustard, tomato):
- Allspicefits better
- Turmericfits better
- Cuminfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against clove, garlic, pepper, ginger, vinegar, mustard, tomato. 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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