Why it works: Clove and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 8,400 recipes mention both. Both carry methyleugenol, which smells clove, spice. The science ↓
Tomato Jelly Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Make the tomato base
Combine tomatoes, bay leaf, cloves, mace, salt, paprika, and onion juice in a saucepan.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Press the mixture through a sieve.
Set the jelly
Add the gelatin and stir until dissolved.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + clovetop 12% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,474 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Clove + oniontop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together16,901 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Mace + oniontop 17% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together7,078 recipes
Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main liquid and tomato flavor that the gelatin sets into jelly.
- Gelatin
- Sets the strained tomato liquid into a firm, sliceable jelly as it cools.
The step that matters
Dissolve the gelatin fully. Gelatin only sets properly when it is completely dissolved in the warm liquid. Undissolved granules leave gritty specks and weak spots, so the jelly may not hold its shape evenly.
Flavor stand-ins for the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, clove, onion, gelatin):
- Garlicbetter flavor fit
- Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, clove, onion, gelatin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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