Name: National Grocery Co
Ingredients: 2 ounces of butter; 1 pound of crab meat; 4 tablespoonfuls tomato catsup; one tablespoonful butter; 2 tablespoonfuls chopped onion; 1 cup stock; 1 teaspoonful salt; 2 cups crab meat; 1 tablespoonful each of butter; 1 tablespoonful flour; 1 tablespoonful worcestershire sauce; 1 cup rice; two tablespoonfuls flour; 1 tablespoonful butter; 2 tablespoonfuls cat- sup; 1 tablespoonful worchestershire sauce; one slice of butter; 1 pint tomato catsup; one cup oysters; 1 cup white sauce; 1 ounce butter; 3 tablespoonfuls of sherry; a tablespoonful of flour; a pint of cream; a pound of butter; a pinch of baking soda; a small bunch of celery; a cup of milk which has been seasoned; a pint of oysters; a tablespoonful of bub- bling butter

Why it works: Tomato and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,065 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. 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 + ricetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,065 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Crab + meattop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together448 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,433 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Butter + crabtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together812 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Crab meat: Forms the main filling and gives the canapes their flavor.
Butter: Adds richness and carries flavor, and browns the topping in the oven.
Flour: Thickens the cream so the crab mixture holds together on the bread.
Cream: Makes the crab mixture smooth and moist, helping it stay soft under the topping.
Parmesan cheese (in the method): Adds savory flavor and helps the topping brown in the oven.

The step that matters

Heat the crab mixture only until it just begins to bubble. Cream-and-flour sauces can scorch or break if overheated, and the crab meat turns tough and dry when cooked too long.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, crab, meat, onion, flour, sauce, rice):

Okrafits better
Mustardfits better
Shallotfits better
Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, crab, meat, onion, flour, sauce, rice. 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Crab	100g cooked	97
Oyster	6 medium (84g)	81
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Meat	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

National Grocery Co