Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,923 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Take the juice from the can of tomatoes.
Add vinegar, sugar, pepper, and salt.
Soak the gelatin in a little tomato juice.
Make and set the jelly
Combine the soaked gelatin with the tomato mixture.
Heat until it reaches boiling point.
Pour into small molds to set.
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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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Tomato + vinegartop 16% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,063 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together19,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and pepper share little aroma chemistry, yet 19,401 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatine
- Sets the tomato liquid into a firm, sliceable jelly as it cools.
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main liquid and tomato flavour of the jelly.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour of the tomato juice.
The step that matters
Soak the gelatine before heating. Gelatine must hydrate in cool liquid so it dissolves evenly when heated. Adding it dry or to hot liquid can leave lumps and weaken the set.
“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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