Name: Spanish Onions--pickled
Ingredients: 5 cloves of garlic; 2 tablespoonfuls of soy; 1 tablespoonful of walnut ketchup; 1 pint of vinegar; 1/4 pint of gravy; 1 pint of cayenne vinegar; six quarts of liquor; 1 pint of soy; 1 pint of anchovy sauce; six quarts of the liquor; 2 teaspoonfuls of the best powdered ginger; 1 head of garlic chopped fine; 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar; 1 pint of chili vinegar; 1/2 teaspoonful of cayenne; 1 pint of common vinegar; 6 tomatoes; 2 shalots; 1 clove; 1 blade of mace; 1 dozen tomatoes; 1 dessertspoonful of salt; 1 dessertspoonful of chili vinegar; 3 dozen tomatoes; 1 large green capsicum; 2 pickled gherkins; 6 pickled onions; 6 lemons; vinegar; salt

Why it works: Ketchup and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,099 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

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.

Ketchup + saucetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,099 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,057 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ketchup + anchovytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together479 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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

Onions: Provide the main bulk and crisp texture that softens and mellows as the pickle matures.
Vinegar: Acidity that preserves the onions and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
Salt: Draws moisture out of the onions and seasons the layers.
Cayenne: Adds heat that seasons the onions as they sit in the jar.

The step that matters

Covering the onions completely with vinegar. Onions exposed above the liquid can spoil and grow mould during maturing. Full submersion in acidic vinegar keeps the surface protected while the flavours develop.

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, garlic, ketchup, vinegar, anchovy, sauce, ginger):

Sesamefits better
Beansfits better
Chickpeafits about as well
Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, garlic, ketchup, vinegar, anchovy, sauce, ginger. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Anchovy	100g	210
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Liquor	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0
Mace	not in our table	0
Capsicum	not in our table	0

Spanish Onions--pickled