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Tomato Jelly Salad

A chilled tomato gelatin served on lettuce with dressing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,451 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Tomato Jelly Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Make the tomato base

  1. Combine tomatoes, bay leaf, cloves, mace, salt, pepper, and onion juice in a saucepan.

  2. Simmer for 15 minutes, then press through a sieve.

Set and serve

  1. Soak the gelatine in cold water until soft, then stir into the tomato mixture until dissolved.

  2. Add vinegar and pour into wetted moulds.

  3. Once firm, serve on lettuce leaves and garnish with salad dressing.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Tomato + lettucetop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Clove + lettucetop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together486 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

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 gel once chilled.
Tomatoes
Provide the main body, flavour and acidity of the salad.
Vinegar
Adds sharpness that balances the sweetness of the tomatoes.

The step that matters

Dissolving the gelatine fully. Gelatine must be softened in cold water first, then dissolved into the warm tomato mixture. If it is not fully dissolved, it will not set evenly and may leave gritty or rubbery patches in the gel.

Flavor stand-ins for the mace

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

  1. Tarragonbetter flavor fit
  2. Thymebetter flavor fit
  3. Garlicbetter flavor fit
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, clove, pepper, onion, vinegar, lettuce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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