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Chili Satjce

A spicy tomato-based sauce made with onions, peppers, tomatoes, spices, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Chili Satjce

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large pot, combine the onions, peppers, and tomatoes.

  2. Add the salt, sugar, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, horseradish, and vinegar.

  3. Cook the mixture slowly over low heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

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. Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Nutmeg + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Onion + horseradishtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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 and moisture that cook down into the sauce.
Onions
Add savory bulk and sweetness as they soften during the long cook.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens flavor and helps preserve the sauce.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the vinegar and tomatoes.

The step that matters

Cook the mixture slowly over low heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.. Low, slow heat lets the liquid evaporate gradually and the vegetables break down evenly. Stirring prevents scorching on the bottom of the pot, which would leave a burnt taste.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, pepper, sugar, nutmeg, clove, ginger, horseradish):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Beetrootfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, pepper, sugar, nutmeg, clove, ginger, horseradish. 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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