Why it works: Nutmeg and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Tomato Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pulp
Boil the tomatoes until soft.
Press the cooked tomatoes through a fine sieve.
Measure the tomato pulp.
For every quart of pulp, add 1 tablespoon of coarse sea salt.
Boil the salted pulp for 1 hour.
Season and cook
Prepare a mixture of equal parts powdered ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
Add 1 tablespoon of the spice mixture to the pulp for every quart of liquid.
Add 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the pulp for every quart of liquid.
Stir in the seasonings.
Boil the catsup for several hours until thickened to your liking.
Strain and bottle
Strain the catsup into a pitcher, avoiding the sediment from the spices.
While hot, pour the catsup through a flannel bag into clean bottles.
Cork the bottles tightly.
Seal the corks.
Store the bottled catsup in a dry, cool place.
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.
-
Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Ginger + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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, pulp and flavour of the catsup.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the pulp and helps draw out moisture during long boiling.
- Cloves
- Add warm, aromatic spice flavour to the pulp.
- Nutmeg
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour to the pulp.
- Powdered ginger
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour to the pulp.
- Cayenne pepper
- Adds heat that sharpens the overall flavour.
The step that matters
Boil until thickened to your liking. Long boiling evaporates water and concentrates the pulp, so the catsup thickens gradually. Stopping too early leaves it thin, while overcooking can make it too dense and can scorch the bottom of the pan if not stirred.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ginger, nutmeg, clove, pepper):
- Carrotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, nutmeg, clove, pepper. 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.
More tomato ketchup recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipes
Tomato Bisque61 recipes
Cream Tomato Soup28 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.