Name: Tomato Salad with Cheese
Ingredients: 4 fresh tomatoes; 40 g cheese; 2 tblsps mayonnaise; 3-4 cloves garlic; parsley greens; pepper; salt

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Tomato Salad with Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Cut the tomatoes into rings.
Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves.

Assemble

Sprinkle the tomato rings with minced garlic, salt, and pepper.
Shred the cheese and place over the tomatoes.
Season with mayonnaise and parsley greens.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

224Calories

15 gProtein

15 gFat

8 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

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.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,308 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,768 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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 salad and supply moisture and fresh acidity.
Cheese: Adds salty, savoury richness and a creamy, melting body against the tomatoes.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and creaminess that coats the tomatoes and cheese.
Garlic: Adds sharp, pungent aroma and flavour that mellows with the other ingredients.

Swap the clove

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

Thymefits better
Basilfits better
Oreganofits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, cheese, garlic, parsley, pepper. 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.