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Sauce

Tomato Catsup

A fermented tomato sauce made with tomatoes, onions, peppers, spices, vinegar, salt, sugar, and spices, strained and bottled.

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

Prepare

  1. Wash and chop the tomatoes, onions, and peppers.

  2. Combine all ingredients in a large pot.

  3. Tie the whole spices in a cheesecloth bag and add to the pot.

Cook and finish

  1. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

  2. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve or cheesecloth.

  3. Bottle the strained catsup and seal.

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. Allspice + mustardtop 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. Onion + mustardtop 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
Provide the main body, flavor, and bulk of the ketchup as they break down during simmering.
White sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the vinegar and tomatoes.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the ketchup its tang and helps preserve it.
Onions
Contribute savory depth and body as they soften during long simmering.
Mustard seeds
Add a pungent, sharp aroma that complements the tomato base.

The step that matters

Simmering for 3 hours with occasional stirring. Long simmering evaporates water and concentrates the tomato solids, thickening the ketchup. Stirring prevents scorching on the bottom of the pot, which would add burnt flavor.

Swap the tomato

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

  1. Horseradishfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

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