Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Tomato Mustard
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the tomatoes with the onions, red peppers, and garlic for 1 hour.
Add the salt, black pepper, ginger, allspice, mace, and cloves, then boil for another hour.
Allow the mixture to cool, then stir in the vinegar and mustard.
If desired, add cayenne for extra heat.
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.
-
Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Ginger + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,620 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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 and provide moisture and acidity as they cook down.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that brightens the flavour and helps preserve the mixture.
- Mustard
- Adds pungent flavour and a sharp, tangy bite.
- Black pepper
- Contributes a warm, sharp spiciness to the sauce.
- Cloves
- Adds warm, aromatic spice notes that deepen the overall flavour.
- Onions
- Provide savoury sweetness and body as they soften during boiling.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, onion, pepper, clove, garlic, ginger, allspice):
- Cuminfits better
- Thymefits better
- Turmericfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, onion, pepper, clove, garlic, ginger, allspice. 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 tomato mustard recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Ginger Pop22 recipes
Sugar Vinegar20 recipes
Ginger Wine12 recipes