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Tomatoes, Pickled

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Sugar and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Tomatoes, Pickled

Ingredients

Directions

  1. If tomatoes are small, leave them whole; if large, slice them into ¼ inch thick pieces.

  2. Ensure the tomatoes are ripe.

  3. If using the first method, cook for 30 minutes after the water in the outer pan boils.

  4. If using the second method, simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.

  5. For a smoother texture, pass the mixture through a fine sieve if desired.

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Tomato + cinnamontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,348 recipes

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

  3. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Tomato + vinegartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,063 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Vinegar + cinnamontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

Swap the cinnamon

The recipe marks cinnamon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, sugar, vinegar):

  1. Garlicfits about as well
  2. Cinnamonthe original
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Corianderfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, sugar, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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