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Tomato Catsup

A tomato-based condiment made with tomatoes, salt, spices, mustard, onions, vinegar, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice 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 ↓

Tomato Catsup

Ingredients

Directions

Cook

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot.

  2. Boil for three hours, stirring occasionally.

Strain and bottle

  1. Allow to cool, then strain the mixture.

  2. Bottle and seal the catsup.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Mustard + allspicetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,928 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 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 sauce and, as they reduce, thicken it into a spreadable body.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the sweetness.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and rounds out the sharpness of the vinegar and spices.
Onions
Contribute savoury depth and aroma to the base.
Coleman's mustard
Adds a pungent, sharp bite that lifts the overall flavour.

The step that matters

Boil for three hours, stirring occasionally. Long simmering evaporates water and concentrates the tomato solids, which thickens the sauce and deepens its flavour. Sugar and tomato solids can scorch on the base of the pot, so frequent stirring prevents burnt flavour.

Swap the peach

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper, clove, mustard, onion, vinegar, allspice):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Avocadofits better
  3. Cherryfits better
  4. Peachthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, clove, mustard, onion, vinegar, allspice. 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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