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 ↓
Catsup, No. 1
Ingredients
Directions
Boil and strain the tomatoes through a sieve.
Place the cloves, allspice, mustard seed, and black pepper in a bag and boil in the strained tomatoes.
Add the cider vinegar just before removing from heat.
Stir in the cayenne pepper and salt to taste.
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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Allspice + mustardtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,928 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,431 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ripe tomatoes
- Form the bulk of the sauce and provide its base flavor and body once cooked down.
- Cider vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps preserve the sauce.
- Black pepper
- Contributes sharp, aromatic heat that rounds out the spiced flavor.
- Whole mustard seed
- Adds pungent, aromatic flavor as it infuses into the simmering tomatoes.
The step that matters
Add the cider vinegar just before removing from heat. Vinegar's acidity is volatile and brightens flavor best when added late; boiling it for long dulls its sharpness and can drive off aroma.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, allspice, mustard, pepper, cider, vinegar):
- Horseradishfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against clove, allspice, mustard, pepper, cider, vinegar. 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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