Chili Sauce (Twelve ripe tomatoes pared)

A standard American chili sauce of the late nineteenth century: a sweet-sour spiced tomato relish, closer to a chunky ketchup than to anything hot. A few of the measures need translating before you start.

• "Pared" tomatoesPared means peeled. Score the skins, drop the tomatoes into boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, then slip the skins off in cold water. Twelve ripe tomatoes will come to roughly 3 to 4 lb. depending on size; core them and squeeze out the wateriest seed pulp or the sauce takes forever to thicken.
• TeacupA teacup in this era is reckoned smaller than a modern measuring cup, commonly somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 cup, so two teacups of vinegar is roughly 1 to 1 1/2 cups. Vinegar strength was not standardized then as it is now; use a modern 5 percent cider vinegar.
• "Three large peppers"These are most likely sweet green bell peppers, despite the name of the sauce. Much of the spicing in chili sauces of this period comes from the spice cupboard rather than from capsicum heat, though some versions do add cayenne or red pepper.
• SpicesA teaspoon each of allspice, nutmeg, cloves and ginger is a heavy hand by modern taste, and ground cloves in particular will dominate. Whole spices tied in cheesecloth and fished out at the end give a rounder result than four teaspoons of ground powder stirred in.
• "Boil together until thick"Expect 1 to 2 hours at a steady simmer, uncovered, stirred often once it starts to catch. The sugar makes it scorch readily near the end — a heavy-bottomed pan and a low flame matter more than speed. It is done when a spoon drawn across the bottom leaves a track that does not immediately flood back.
• YieldBoiled down thick, expect on the order of 1 1/2 to 2 pints. Serve it cold with roast pork, cold beef, croquettes or beans.
• StorageThe receipt gives no sealing or processing instructions. Treat it as a refrigerator condiment: cool it, jar it, keep it cold and use it within a month or so. For shelf-stable jars, follow a current tested tomato-relish canning procedure rather than this one.