Name: Tomato Salad
Ingredients: firm tomatoes; 1 small onion, chopped; 1 tablespoon vinegar; 2 tablespoons oil; coarse sea salt; black pepper

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

Tomato Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Wipe each tomato without washing them.
Cut the tomatoes into chunks and place them in a salad bowl.
Add the chopped onion.

Dress and serve

In a small bowl, mix vinegar and oil.
Pour the vinegar-oil mixture over the salad.
Season with coarse sea salt and black pepper to taste.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together68,474 recipes

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

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together18,226 recipes

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

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned 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

Firm tomatoes: Provide the main body and juicy texture of the salad.
Onion: Adds sharp, aromatic flavour that cuts through the sweetness of the tomatoes.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the tomatoes.
Oil: Adds fat and a smooth mouthfeel that carries the flavours of the dressing.

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, vinegar, pepper):

Capsicumbetter flavor fit
Cucumberbetter flavor fit
Mustardbetter flavor fit
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, vinegar, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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.