Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Simmer the tomatoes
Add 1 pint of tomatoes and 3 cloves, then 1 slice of onion and 1 cup of water.
Place the tomatoes, water, onion, and cloves in a saucepan and boil for 10 minutes.
Thicken and strain
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, add a heaping tablespoon of flour, and pour this into the tomatoes.
Boil for 10 minutes longer and strain.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| 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.
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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,901 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
-
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Clove + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,671 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Onion + flourtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together32,460 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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)
- Forms the base of the sauce, supplying most of its body and acidity.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells when heated in the butter and liquid.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries flavour, and helps the flour blend smoothly.
- Onion
- Adds savoury aroma that infuses into the simmering liquid.
- Cloves
- Adds warm, aromatic spice that infuses into the sauce as it simmers.
The step that matters
Adding the butter and flour to the tomatoes. Flour mixed with melted butter, then whisked into hot liquid, disperses evenly and avoids lumps. Adding it in one clump causes lumps because the starch cannot hydrate evenly.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, butter, flour):
- Capersfits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Garlicfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, butter, flour. 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.
More tomato sauce recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.