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Dessert

Ripe Tomato Preserves

A sweet preserve made from ripe tomatoes, sugar, lemon, cloves, and cinnamon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 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 ↓

Ripe Tomato Preserves

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Weigh the tomatoes before scalding.

  2. Scald the tomatoes.

  3. Peel and cut the tomatoes.

Cook the preserves

  1. Heat the tomatoes slowly.

  2. Add the sugar.

  3. Boil slowly for 20 minutes.

  4. Slice the lemons.

  5. Add the sliced lemons along with the spices.

  6. Remove all seeds.

  7. Boil slowly, stirring often with a silver spoon, being careful not to let it burn.

Finish thickening

  1. In the last hour, stir almost constantly.

  2. Remove any scum that rises.

  3. Continue boiling until the mixture is very thick and dark.

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. Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Lemon + clovetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Tomato + lemontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,592 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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 preserve and supply the body that thickens as the liquid reduces.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, as it dissolves and concentrates, helps the preserve set thick and glossy.
Lemons
Add acidity and brightness, and their pectin helps the preserve set.
Cloves
Add a warm, aromatic spice flavor to the preserve.
Cinnamon bark
Adds a sweet, warm aroma and flavor to the preserve.

The step that matters

Stirring to prevent burning. The mixture is thick and rich in sugar, so it scorches easily on the bottom of the pan. Stirring often with a non-reactive spoon, and keeping the heat slow, prevents burnt flavors from forming.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, clove, cinnamon):

  1. Arrowrootfits better
  2. Sweet potatofits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon, 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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