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Sauce

Grape Catsup

A sweet and spicy grape sauce made with vinegar, sugar, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fredonia, N.Y. Trinity parish guild, comp. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Grape Catsup

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Take 5 pounds of grapes, scald and strain. Add 2 pounds of sugar, 1 pint of vinegar, 1 tablespoonful each of salt, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice.

  2. Boil until thick enough.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

89Calories
1 gProtein
1 gFat
22 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
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 Fredonia, N.Y. Trinity parish guild, comp. [from old catalog]. 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. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Grapes
Form the base of the ketchup, providing the fruit body and natural sweetness.
Sugar (in the method)
Adds sweetness and, as water evaporates during boiling, helps the mixture thicken.
Vinegar
Adds acidity and sharp tang that balances the sweetness of the grapes and sugar.

The step that matters

Boil until thick enough. As water evaporates, the grape pulp and sugar concentrate and the sauce thickens. Stopping too early leaves it thin and watery, while boiling too long can scorch the sugars and darken the flavor.

Swap the grape

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, pepper, clove, cinnamon, allspice):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Orangefits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Grapethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, pepper, clove, cinnamon, allspice. 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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