Why it works: Onion and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,595 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Chetney Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Stone the raisins.
Bake and mash the apples, removing the cores and skins.
Grate the onions.
Mix all the ingredients together and boil.
Stir occasionally and bottle after 2 days.
You can use tomatoes instead of apples.
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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Onion + gingertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,595 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Raisin + gingertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,242 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vinegar + oniontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,226 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, vinegar, sugar, ginger):
- Mustardfits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, vinegar, sugar, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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