Why it works: Tomato and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Salmorejo
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel the tomatoes.
Chop the garlic.
Squeeze excess water from the bread with your hands.
Make the salmorejo
Place the tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, bread, and salt in a blender and blend.
Add the olive oil in a steady stream to emulsify the mixture and produce a thick salmorejo.
Serve
Serve as a sauce with vegetables or fish, or on toast with thin slices of Serrano ham or thin slivers of desalinated cod as a tapa.
Serve as a first course in a bowl, garnished with diced ham and chopped hard-boiled egg.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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 + olivetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,539 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,665 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Olive + breadtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,091 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,013 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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, flavour and liquid base of the soup.
- Bread
- Thickens the mixture and gives the salmorejo its creamy body.
- Olive oil
- Adds fat and richness, and emulsifies into the blend to create a smooth, thick texture.
- Garlic
- Contributes sharp aroma and pungent flavour.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Adding the olive oil in a steady stream. Pouring the oil slowly while blending lets it emulsify into the tomato and bread mixture. Adding it too fast can prevent emulsification, leaving the sauce oily and less thick and smooth.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, garlic, olive, vinegar, bread, egg):
- Capersfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Basilfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, garlic, olive, vinegar, bread, egg. 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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