Name: Winter Sauce
Ingredients: 2 gallons cabbage, finely chopped; 1 gallon green tomatoes, sliced; 12 onions, sliced; 1 ounce turmeric powder; 1 ounce celery seed; 1 ounce whole allspice; 1 ounce whole cloves; 1 ounce ground ginger; 1 ounce ground black pepper; ½ cup coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt'); ½ pound white mustard seed; 1½ pounds white sugar; 1 gallon wine vinegar

Why it works: Allspice and clove 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 ↓

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.

Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,874 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Turmeric + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,776 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,620 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Turmeric + allspicetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together629 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cabbage: Provides the bulk of the sauce and softens into a thick, tender body as it cooks.
Green tomatoes: Add tartness and body as they break down during boiling.
Onions: Add savory sweetness and body as they soften and cook down.
Wine vinegar: Provides sharp acidity that brightens the sauce and helps preserve it.
White sugar: Balances the sharpness of the vinegar and tomatoes with sweetness.
White mustard seed: Adds a pungent, sharp flavor that stands up to the vinegar.

The step that matters

Boil for the full 15 to 20 minutes. Boiling long enough softens the cabbage, onions and tomatoes and blends the spices and vinegar into one sauce. Stopping early can leave the vegetables firm and the flavors sharp and separate.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, onion, turmeric, celery, allspice, clove, ginger):

Carrotfits better
Mustardfits better
Turnipfits better
Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, onion, turmeric, celery, allspice, clove, ginger. 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.

Winter Sauce