Name: Chilli Sauce
Ingredients: 15 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped; 1½ pounds brown sugar; 1 pint vinegar; 2 large onions, chopped very fine; 1 cup salt; 4 red peppers; 1 ounce black pepper; 1 ounce white pepper; 1 ounce cloves; 1 ounce cinnamon

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 ↓

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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,890 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Ripe tomatoes: Provide the bulk, moisture and body that the sauce cooks down into.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and helps balance the acidity of the vinegar and tomatoes.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that gives the sauce its tang and helps preserve it.
Onions: Add savory depth and body as they soften and dissolve into the sauce during cooking.

The step that matters

Cook thoroughly over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Long, gentle cooking evaporates water and thickens the sauce. Stirring prevents the sugars and solids from scorching on the bottom of the pot.

Swap the white pepper

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

Allspicefits better
Cardamomfits better
Gingerfits better
White pepperthe original

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

Chilli Sauce

Chilli Sauce

Ingredients

Directions