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Chili Sauce

A tomato-based sauce with onions, peppers, spices, sugar, vinegar, and salt simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Chili Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and combine

  1. Chop the tomatoes, onions, and green peppers.

  2. In a large pot, combine all ingredients.

Cook

  1. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.

  2. Simmer for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

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. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Clove + celerytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Provides the bulk and liquid base that cooks down into the sauce.
Onions
Adds savory body and sweetness as they soften during the long simmer.
Vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the sugar.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that offsets the acidity and helps the sauce thicken and darken.
Green peppers
Contribute a grassy, vegetal flavor and some texture to the sauce.
Red peppers
Add mild sweetness and color along with a fresh pepper flavor.

The step that matters

Simmer for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. A long, gentle simmer evaporates water and thickens the sauce. Sugar and chopped solids can scorch on the bottom of the pot, so regular stirring keeps the heat even and prevents burnt flavor.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper, sugar, vinegar, ginger, clove, celery):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Mustardfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, sugar, vinegar, ginger, clove, celery. 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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