Name: How We Cook in Tennessee
Ingredients: one quart tomatoes on to stew in an iron skillet; half cup; one-fourth cup of fresh sweet milk; four slices toasted bread; seven stalks to a bundle; one quart beans all night; half pound chunk of salt pork; one cup bread crumbs; one pint of egg plant; one tablespoon of butter; one teaspoon made mustard; two tablespoons vinegar; a small head of cabbage; a cup of cream; a piece of bacon four inches square into a vessel of boiling water; two eggs to one pint of egg plant; one-quarter inch thick; one inch long; one teacup cream; pepper; salt; vinegar; parsley; black pepper; mustard

Why it works: Tomato and beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,713 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

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.

Tomato + beanstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,713 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beans + mustardtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together852 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,013 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: Serve as the hollow shells that hold the filling and soften as they bake.
Bread crumbs: Absorb the juices and bind the filling so it holds its shape.
Cabbage: Adds bulk and a mild, slightly crisp texture to the filling.
Cream: Adds moisture and richness to the filling.
Butter: Adds fat and flavor to the tomatoes as they bake and on serving.

The step that matters

Bake until well done without burning. The tomato shells can scorch on the dish bottom, so the added water keeps the pan from burning while the filling cooks through in the oven.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, milk, bread, beans, pork, egg, butter):

Potatofits better
Capsicumfits better
Asparagusfits better
Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, milk, bread, beans, pork, egg, butter. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Pork	100g cooked	242
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Bread	1 slice (30g) white	79
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Stew	not in our table	0
Bean	not in our table	0
Plant	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

How We Cook in Tennessee