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Chili Sauce

A tomato-based sauce with spices, vinegar, and sugar, simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [from old catalog] · 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 ↓

Chili Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop 25 ripe tomatoes, 6 onions, 2 green peppers, and a large bunch of celery finely and add to a pot.

  2. If whole mixed spice is used, tie it in 4 small bags.

Cook

  1. Add 3 quarts vinegar and 2 cupfuls sugar.

  2. Add 1 teaspoonful allspice and 1 teaspoonful cloves.

  3. Add 1 teaspoonful cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful mace, and 2 teaspoonfuls salt. Boil fast for an hour and a half, then let simmer for an hour and a half or two more hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

148Calories
3 gProtein
1 gFat
35 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Macenot in our table0

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

By Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [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. 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
Provide the bulk and body of the sauce as they cook down.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the sauce its tang and helps preserve it.
Sugar
Balances the acidity and sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.
Onions
Add savoury depth and body as they soften during cooking.

The step that matters

Simmering after the fast boil. Long simmering evaporates water and concentrates flavour and thickness. Boiling too hard or too briefly can leave the sauce thin, sharp, or unevenly cooked.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Macethe original

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

More chili sauce recipes

Tomato 14Green Tomato 4Raw 3Sweet 3 See all 392 →

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