Name: Stewed Tomatoes
Ingredients: a large piece of butter; a spoonful of white sugar; pepper; salt

Why it works: Butter and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Stewed Tomatoes

Ingredients

a large piece of butter
a spoonful of white sugar
pepper
salt

Directions

Prepare

Scald and skin the tomatoes (unless canned), and place them in a stewpan without water.

Stew and season

Simmer for half an hour.
Add pepper, salt, a large piece of butter, a spoonful of white sugar and very little bread finely grated.
Boil up once and serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

157Calories

0 gProtein

12 gFat

14 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
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 Gibson, Marietta Fauntleroy Hollyday, "Mrs. C. H. Gibson.". 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.

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.

Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together19,401 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes (in the method): Provide the main body and juice that cook down into the stewed sauce.
Butter: Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished tomatoes.
White sugar: Balances the tomatoes' acidity with a touch of sweetness.
Bread (in the method): Finely grated bread thickens the juices slightly as the tomatoes stew.

“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.