Why it works: Tarragon and chervil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 824 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Timbale Moulds
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Arrange the tomatoes in a shallow copper mold to see how many fit closely together, then remove each tomato.
Cut off one-third of the top of each tomato.
Place the tomatoes face down on a plate with a pinch of coarse sea salt.
Let the tomatoes sit for 3 hours to exude acidic juice.
Stuff and cook
After 3 hours, place the tomatoes back in the mold with 2 teaspoons of oil at the bottom.
Stuff each tomato with the mixture of hard-boiled eggs, tarragon, chervil, breadcrumbs, cooked onions, and garlic.
Cover the mold and place it on a charcoal fire covered with ashes.
Let it stew gently for 2 to 2.5 hours until ready to serve.
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.
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Tarragon + cherviltop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together824 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Tarragon + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together548 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Tomato + tarragontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together391 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Form the main body of the timbale and release acidic juice that flavors the dish.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Provide the creamy, binding filling that holds the stuffing together.
- Breadcrumbs
- Absorb moisture and help bind the stuffing so it holds its shape.
- Oil
- Coats the base of the mold to help prevent sticking and add richness.
- Cooked onions
- Add savory sweetness and body to the stuffing as they soften.
The step that matters
Salting and draining the tomatoes for 3 hours. Salt draws out excess juice through osmosis. Removing this water keeps the stuffed tomatoes from becoming watery and loose during the long, gentle stew.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, egg, tarragon, chervil, onion, garlic):
- Capersfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Thymefits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, egg, tarragon, chervil, onion, garlic. 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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