Name: Tomato Salad
Ingredients: one teaspoon salt; one-half teaspoon cayenne pepper; one teaspoon sugar; twelve tomatoes; four eggs; one egg; one teacup of vinegar

Why it works: Pepper and tomato 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 ↓

Tomato Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Peel and slice twelve tomatoes.
Boil four eggs hard.
Beat one raw egg well.

Combine and chill

Combine tomatoes, boiled eggs, raw beaten egg, salt, cayenne pepper, sugar, and vinegar.
Set the mixture on ice to become perfectly cold.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

160Calories

8 gProtein

6 gFat

19 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
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.

By Home for the Friendless (Chicago, Ill.). 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. See the original page.

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Tomato + vinegartop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,063 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 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: Form the main body of the salad and supply moisture and fresh, acidic flavor.
Eggs: Boiled eggs add richness and body, while the raw beaten egg helps bind the mixture.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the sugar.