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Chili Sauce

A tomato-based sauce with onions, celery seed, white pepper, and brown sugar, simmered for two hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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. Peel the tomatoes, cut them in half, and remove all the seeds.

  2. Chop the tomatoes, onions, and peppers finely.

Cook

  1. Mix all the ingredients in a porcelain-lined kettle.

  2. Simmer slowly for 2 hours.

Bottle

  1. Put the sauce into bottles and cork them.

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.

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. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 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. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Form the bulk of the sauce, providing body, moisture and most of its flavor.
White vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that brightens the sauce and helps preserve it.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the vinegar and tomatoes.
Onions
Contribute savory depth and aroma as they soften during the long simmer.
Celery seed
Adds a warm, aromatic celery flavor that defines the sauce's character.
White pepper
Adds mild, earthy heat that rounds out the sauce's seasoning.

The step that matters

Simmer slowly for 2 hours. Low, gentle heat lets water evaporate gradually so the sauce thickens without scorching on the bottom of the kettle. Sugars and tomato solids can burn quickly at high heat, leaving a bitter taste. A porcelain-lined kettle is used because acidic tomato and vinegar can react with bare metal.

Swap the white pepper

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

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Cuminfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

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