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Dessert

Apple Chutney

A sweet and spicy apple chutney made with apples, tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Apple Chutney

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Peel and chop the apples and tomatoes.

  2. Add the grated onion and garlic, spices, sugar, and vinegar.

Cook and store

  1. Mix well and boil for 10 minutes.

  2. Allow the mixture to cool, then seal in jars or bottles.

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. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,774 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Tart apples
Pectin and tartness give the chutney body and a sharp, fresh edge.
Tomatoes
Release juice and pulp that adds moisture and body as they cook down.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the mixture thicken and turn glossy as it reduces.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and helps keep the chutney stable.
Onion
Adds savory depth and aroma as it softens in the mixture.

The step that matters

Cool before sealing. Letting the chutney cool before sealing it in jars or bottles prevents trapped steam from creating condensation inside the container, which can affect the seal and quality.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Cucumberfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, tomato, ginger, pepper, vinegar, clove. 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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