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Chili Sauce

A tomato-based sauce with peppers, onions, apples, vinegar, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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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 ↓

Chili Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the onions, red peppers, green peppers, apples, and garlic very finely.

  2. Cook the tomatoes without peeling them, then strain through a colander.

Cook

  1. Combine all ingredients in a pot and stew together for 3 hours.

  2. When nearly done, add the brown sugar.

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. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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, liquid and tangy flavor of the sauce.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens flavor and helps preserve the sauce.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the acidity and heat of the sauce.
Onions
Add savory depth and bulk as they soften during stewing.
Garlic
Contributes pungent aroma that mellows during long cooking.

The step that matters

Adding the brown sugar. Sugar added too early can scorch on the bottom of the pot during the long stew, and it is best stirred in near the end so it dissolves evenly and balances the acidity.

Swap the apple

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

  1. Limefits better
  2. Avocadofits better
  3. Cherryfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, onion, vinegar, garlic, 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.

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