Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Place the tomatoes in a vessel and sprinkle with a handful of coarse sea salt.
Cover with boiling water and let stand until cool.
Slice the tomatoes transversely once or twice, depending on their size.
Pickle
Layer the sliced tomatoes in a crock with thinly sliced onions, if using.
Prepare the vinegar with cloves, cinnamon, and allspice, then pour it hot over the tomatoes.
Cover the crock and set it aside for a few days.
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 + cinnamontop 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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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + cinnamontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,348 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body and flesh that soften and absorb the pickling liquid.
- Vinegar
- Acidifies the liquid, giving the pickles their sharp, preserving tang.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the tomatoes, firming them and concentrating their flavour.
- Cloves
- Add warm, aromatic spice flavour to the pickling liquid.
- Cinnamon
- Adds sweet, woody aroma to the pickling liquid.
- Allspice
- Contributes warm, peppery aroma to the pickling liquid.
The step that matters
Salting and scalding the tomatoes. Salt draws out water and the boiling water softens the skins, so the tomatoes firm up and absorb the brine rather than turning mushy. Letting them cool fully before slicing keeps the flesh intact.
Swap the onion
The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, vinegar, clove, cinnamon, allspice):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Cucumberfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, vinegar, clove, cinnamon, allspice. 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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