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Tomato Jelly

A preserved tomato mixture thickened with gelatin, seasoned with celery, onion, bay leaf, cloves, cayenne pepper, salt, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Kaufman, Nettie M · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Tomato Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soften 54 box Knox gelatin in cold water for 5 minutes.

  2. Cook tomatoes, celery, onion, bay leaf, cloves, cayenne pepper, salt, and sugar for 10 minutes.

  3. Add gelatin and vinegar; stir until dissolved.

  4. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve to keep seeds back.

Set and serve

  1. Pour into mould and place on ice; when stiff, turn out.

  2. Garnish with lettuce and pour mayonnaise dressing.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

30Calories
1 gProtein
1 gFat
6 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)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 Kaufman, Nettie M. 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 + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

  3. Celery + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  4. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

  5. Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Gelatine
Sets the cooked tomato mixture into a firm jelly that holds its shape when turned out.
Tomatoes (in the method)
Provide the main body, flavour and acidity of the jelly.
Vinegar
Adds sharpness that balances the sweetness and richness of the tomatoes.

The step that matters

Dissolve the gelatine fully before adding the rest. Gelatine only sets when it is completely dissolved and evenly distributed. Undissolved granules leave soft spots or streaks, and the jelly may not set firmly.

Swap the celery

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

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Cinnamonfits better
  4. Celerythe original

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