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Tomato Catsup

A thick tomato sauce made by cooking tomatoes, peppers, onions, and spices for many hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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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 vegetables

  1. Wash and drain the tomatoes, removing stems and imperfections.

  2. Place the tomatoes in a brass kettle and squeeze each one to break the skin.

  3. Chop the bell peppers and onions, then add them to the kettle.

  4. Cook the mixture over medium heat for 2 hours, stirring often to prevent sticking.

  5. Strain the mixture through a wire sieve or a patent scoop to remove seeds and skins.

Season and cook down

  1. Add salt, vinegar, and spices to the strained mixture.

  2. Boil slowly for 12 hours, transferring to large bowls at night and covering them.

  3. In the morning, return the mixture to the kettle and boil until thick like cream, stirring often to prevent scorching.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked 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

Tomatoes
Provide the main bulk, flavor, and natural pectin that thickens the ketchup as it reduces.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens flavor and helps preserve the finished ketchup.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and savory depth as they soften during long cooking.
Bell peppers
Add vegetal sweetness and body to the base as they cook down.
Sea salt
Seasons the mixture and draws moisture out, aiding reduction.

The step that matters

Boiling down until thick, stirring often. The mixture is thick and sugar-free until reduced, so it scorches easily on the bottom of the kettle. Frequent stirring spreads heat evenly and prevents burnt flavor and dark specks while the water evaporates and the sauce thickens.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper, onion, vinegar, cinnamon, clove, allspice):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Cardamomfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, onion, vinegar, cinnamon, clove, 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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