Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Pickle or Chutney-an Old Devon Recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Salt and drain
Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the sliced tomatoes, onion, and chilies.
Let the mixture stand for 12 hours on a dish with a strainer to drain off the brine.
Strain off all the brine.
Cook and bottle
Place the tomatoes, onion, and chilies in a stewpan and add enough vinegar to cover them.
Add the Demerara sugar, black pepper, and powdered ginger.
Boil until the mixture is tender and a rich brown color.
Bottle the chutney and seal it.
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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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).
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Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + gingertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,595 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + gingertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,887 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 pickle and break down into a soft, spreadable body when simmered.
- Onion
- Adds body and savory sweetness that deepens as it cooks down in the vinegar.
- Demerara sugar
- Sweetens the pickle and, with long cooking, helps create its rich brown color.
- Vinegar
- Acidic base that preserves the pickle and softens the vegetables as it simmers.
- Chilies
- Provide heat and a sharp, pungent note to the pickle.
The step that matters
Boil until tender and a rich brown color. Cooking must go long enough to soften the tomatoes and onion fully and to caramelize the sugar for color. Stopping early leaves a pale, watery chutney that may not keep well once sealed.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, vinegar, sugar, pepper, ginger):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Cucumberfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, vinegar, sugar, pepper, 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.
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