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 Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Combine tomatoes, onions, cloves, bay leaves, pepper, and salt in a pot.
Add boiling water and boil for 20 minutes.
Strain the mixture through a colander, collecting the juice in a pot.
Stir in flour to thicken.
Let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes.
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.
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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + clovetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,474 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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, acidity, and flavor of the sauce.
- Onions
- Add savory sweetness and aromatic depth as they cook down.
- Flour
- Thickens the strained juice into a sauce with more body.
The step that matters
Stir in flour to thicken. Flour must be stirred in evenly and simmered so its starch swells and cooks through; added in clumps or left unsimmered, it leaves a raw floury taste and uneven texture.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, clove, pepper, flour):
- Capsicumfits better
- Eggplantfits better
- Okrafits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, clove, pepper, flour. 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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