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Tomato Fritters

Tomato fritters made from stewed tomatoes, soda, and flour, fried in hot lard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Des Moines. Plymouth church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Illustration of Tomato FrittersIllustration

Why it works: Tomato and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and 4,683 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: flour

Directions

  1. Take one quart of stewed tomatoes.

  2. Stir in one small teaspoonful of soda.

  3. Add flour enough to make as stiff as pancakes.

  4. Fry by dropping in hot lard.

By Des Moines. Plymouth church. [from old catalog]. 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.

The picture is an illustration, not a photo of this recipe · 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.

  1. Tomato + sugartop 22% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together4,683 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Stewed tomatoes
Provides the main body and moisture for the batter, with acidity that reacts with the soda.
Soda
Reacts with the tomato's acidity to produce gas, lightening the fritter's texture.
Flour (in the method)
Gives structure, thickening the tomato mixture into a batter stiff enough to hold its shape.

The step that matters

Fry by dropping in hot lard. The batter must be stiff enough to hold its shape, and the lard must be hot so the outside sets and browns quickly. Cold fat lets the fritters soak up grease and turn heavy.

“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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