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Sauce

Chili Sauce

A tomato-based sauce with peppers, onion, sugar, salt, and vinegar boiled for an hour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Jacqueline Harrison Smith (ed.) · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Chili Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce base

  1. Combine the tomatoes, green peppers, onion, sugar, salt, and vinegar.

  2. Chop the peppers and onion.

  3. Boil the mixture for 1 hour.

Prepare the limes

  1. Take the limes while perfectly green, cut them in half, and clean entirely of the pulp.

  2. Put the limes in salt water strong enough to bear an egg for 6 weeks.

  3. Transfer the limes to cold water for 24 hours, changing the water every three hours.

  4. Boil the limes in saleratus water until tender enough to run a straw through (use one teaspoon salaratus per 6 quarts of water).

  5. Put the limes again in cold water, changing it several times.

Make the syrup and finish

  1. For each pound of limes, add 2½ pounds of loaf sugar and 3 pints of water.

  2. Boil the syrup for 15 or 20 minutes to clear it before adding the limes.

  3. Boil the mixture for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

124Calories
2 gProtein
0 gFat
29 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot 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 Jacqueline Harrison Smith (ed.). Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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 + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Vinegar + oniontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,226 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Provide the main body and liquid base of the sauce.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the vinegar.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that preserves the sauce and gives it sharpness.
Green peppers
Add vegetable bulk and a fresh, slightly bitter flavour to the sauce.
Limes (in the method)
Supply the characteristic tart flavour once softened and sweetened in syrup.

The step that matters

Boil the limes in saleratus water until tender. Stop when a straw passes through easily. Undercooked limes stay tough and fibrous, while overcooking breaks them down. Rinsing afterward removes the alkaline residue that would otherwise taint the flavour.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Cucumberfits better
  3. Mustardfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, tomato, 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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