Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Tomato Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the tomatoes, vinegar, salt, whole pepper, allspice, onions, cloves, brown sugar, and cayenne for three hours or until thick.
When cool, strain through a fine sieve.
Put the strained mixture into bottles and cork them.
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.
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Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Tomatoes
- Form the bulk of the sauce and provide its base flavor and body.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and helps preserve the ketchup.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and depth, balancing the acidity of the vinegar and tomatoes.
- Onions
- Contribute savory aromatic flavor that deepens during long simmering.
The step that matters
Boil until thick. Long simmering evaporates water and concentrates the tomatoes and sugar, so the sauce thickens. Stopping too early leaves it thin and watery, while overcooking can scorch the sugars on the bottom of the pot.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, vinegar, pepper, allspice, clove, sugar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Cucumberfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, vinegar, pepper, allspice, clove, sugar. 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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