Why it works: Onion and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,633 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Savoury Dishes
Ingredients
Directions
Bake the tomatoes
Place the tomatoes in a tin with a little butter and baste them occasionally with the butter.
When the tomatoes are tender, pour the butter and juice in the tin over the tomatoes and serve them plain or with boiled macaroni or rice.
Fry the tomatoes
Place the tomatoes in a frying-pan with a little butter and fry them until they are tender.
Pour the contents of the frying-pan over the tomatoes and serve plain, or with macaroni or rice.
Grill the tomatoes
Moisten the tomato in a little oil or oiled butter.
Grill the tomatoes carefully, as they are apt to break.
Serve grilled tomatoes with plain boiled macaroni or on boiled rice.
Stew the tomatoes with onion
Moisten the bottom of a stew-pan with a little butter.
Sprinkle the chopped onion over the tomatoes in the stew-pan and add a dessertspoonful of water.
Place the lid on the stew-pan, which ought to fit tightly, and put a weight on the lid, such as a flat-iron.
Place the stew-pan on the fire and let the tomatoes steam till they are tender.
Steam a mushroom and potato pie
Mix mushrooms and potatoes as for a pie, and place in a basin with only enough water to moisten them.
Cover the basin with bread-crumbs soaked in milk.
Steam the basin in the ordinary way.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
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.
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Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Form the main body of the dish, becoming soft and juicy as they cook.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds fat and richness, helping the tomatoes brown and carry flavour.
- Onion
- Adds savoury flavour as it softens with the steaming tomatoes.
The step that matters
Grilling the tomatoes. Tomatoes are delicate and apt to break, so they need a light coating of oil or butter and careful handling. Their high water content makes them fragile when heated quickly.
“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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