Name: Stewed Tomatoes II
Ingredients: 2 large tomatoes; 2 tablespoons butter; salt to taste; pepper to taste

Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Stewed Tomatoes II

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

2 large tomatoes
2 tablespoons butter
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Directions

Prepare and cook

Wipe, peel, and cut the tomatoes into pieces.
Cook the tomatoes slowly in a saucepan for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Finish

Season with butter, salt, and pepper.

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.

Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,918 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes: Break down into a soft, saucy body as they cook slowly in their own juices.
Butter: Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished tomatoes.