Why it works: Tomato and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,667 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Tomato Sweetmeats
Ingredients
Directions
Scald and remove the skin from the tomatoes.
Slice the tomatoes thinly.
Stew the sliced tomatoes in sugar until they reach a preserve-like consistency.
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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Tomato + sugartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,667 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
- Provide the bulk and the fruit flavor, and their pectin and water set the jam as they cook down.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and draws water out of the tomatoes, helping it thicken to a preserve-like texture.
The step that matters
Stewing until preserve-like. Sugar and tomato must cook long enough for water to evaporate and the mixture to thicken. Stopping too early leaves a runny jam, while overcooking can scorch the sugar and darken the flavor.
“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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