Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Tomato Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Scald, peel, and core the tomatoes.
Mash the tomatoes as if preparing for stewing.
Season with cinnamon, cayenne, cloves, allspice, mace, onions, and salt.
Cook and strain
Place in a porcelain-lined kettle and boil until thoroughly cooked.
Rub the mixture through a sieve to remove seeds and spices.
Return the strained mixture to the kettle and boil until thick like cream.
Let the mixture cool.
Bottle and store
Transfer to clean bottles, filling to within ½ inch of the cork.
Pour 1 teaspoon of salad oil on top of each bottle.
Store the bottles in a cool, dry place, resting on their sides.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 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
- Ripe tomatoes
- Form the main bulk and body, thickening as their water evaporates during boiling.
- Onions
- Add savoury sweetness and body as they cook down into the mixture.
- Ground cinnamon
- Adds warm, sweet aroma that rounds out the tomato's acidity.
- Ground cloves
- Contributes strong, warm aroma that stays pronounced after long cooking.
- Cayenne pepper
- Adds gentle heat that balances the sweetness and acidity of the tomatoes.
The step that matters
Boil the strained mixture until thick like cream. Thickening happens as water evaporates and the tomato's natural pectin and solids concentrate. Too little boiling leaves the ketchup thin and watery, and the bottled product may separate.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, cinnamon, pepper, clove, allspice, onion):
- Nutmegfits better
- Thymefits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, cinnamon, pepper, clove, allspice, onion. 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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