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 Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a pot, combine the tomatoes, red pepper, brown sugar, salt, ginger, cloves, and allspice.
Add the vinegar last.
Stew the mixture for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
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 + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,620 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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, moisture and bright flavor of the sauce.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and balances the sweetness.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and depth, and helps balance the acidity of the vinegar.
- Red pepper
- Adds sweet, vegetal flavor and body to the sauce as it stews.
The step that matters
Add the vinegar last. Vinegar is added after the other ingredients so its sharp acidity is not cooked off or dulled early. Adding it at the end keeps the tang bright and lets the stew reduce evenly.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, vinegar, sugar, ginger, clove, allspice):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, vinegar, sugar, ginger, clove, 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.
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