Name: Bordeaux Sauce
Ingredients: 2 gallons cabbage, cut fine; 1 gallon green tomatoes, sliced; 1 dozen onions, sliced; 1 ounce turmeric powder; 1 ounce celery seed; 1 ounce whole allspice; 1 ounce cloves; 1 ounce ground ginger; 1 ounce ground black pepper; ½ pound white mustard seed; 1½ pounds white sugar; ½ cup coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt'); 1 gallon wine vinegar

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 ↓

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.

Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,874 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Turmeric + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,776 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,620 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Turmeric + allspicetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together629 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Wine vinegar: Supplies the sharp acidity that gives the sauce its tang and helps preserve it.
White sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar and tomatoes.
Green tomatoes: Provide body and a tart, fruity base to the sauce.
Cabbage: Adds bulk and body as it softens during cooking.
Onions: Add savoury depth and body as they cook down.
White mustard seed: Contributes a sharp, pungent flavour to the sauce.

The step that matters

Boiling for 15 to 20 minutes. The boil must be long enough to soften the cabbage, tomatoes and onions and to blend the spices and vinegar. Too short a boil leaves the vegetables firm and the flavours harsh and separate.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, onion, turmeric, celery, allspice, clove, ginger):

Carrotfits better
Mustardfits better
Turnipfits better
Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, onion, turmeric, celery, allspice, clove, ginger. 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.

Bordeaux Sauce