Name: Chilli Sauce
Ingredients: 1 green pepper, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon salt; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 cups vinegar; 2 tablespoons mixed spices, ground

Why it works: Pepper and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Chilli Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Combine the green pepper, salt, onion, vinegar, and spices in a pot.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Once boiled, pour the sauce into bottles for storage.

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.

Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,226 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Vinegar: Adds acidity that gives the sauce its sharp tang and helps keep it stable.
Onion: Adds savory body and a mellow sweetness that develops as it cooks.
Green pepper: Adds fresh, slightly bitter vegetable flavor and body to the sauce.
Mixed spices: Provides aroma and warm flavor that infuse the sauce as it boils.