Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and 106,462 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Forced Tomatas
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Let the tomatas be well shaped and of equal size.
Divide them nearly in the middle, leaving the blossom-side the largest, as this only is to be used.
Empty them carefully of their seeds and juice.
Make the filling
Stew the minced mushrooms and shalots, parsley, minced lean ham, cayenne and a little fine salt if needed in butter until tender, without letting them brown.
Let the mixture cool.
Mix in about a third as much fine bread crumbs as the mixture and two yolks of eggs.
Bake and serve
Fill the tomatoes with the mixture.
Cover them with fine crumbs and moisten with clarified butter.
Bake them in a brisk oven until they are well coloured.
Serve as a garnish to stewed rump or sirloin of beef, or to a boned and forced leg of mutton.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + oniontop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together32,460 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Cream + oniontop 18% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together10,827 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
-
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Flour and egg share little aroma chemistry, yet 106,462 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Eggs
- Yolks bind the filling so it holds its shape when baked.
- Fine bread crumbs (in the method)
- Absorb moisture from the filling and form a crisp, browned topping.
- Mushrooms (in the method)
- Add savoury, earthy flavour and moisture to the stuffing.
- Lean ham (in the method)
- Adds salty, savoury flavour to the filling.
- Clarified butter (in the method)
- Moistens the crumb topping and promotes even browning in the oven.
The step that matters
Stew the filling without browning. Mushrooms, shallots and ham should cook gently until tender without colouring. Browning them in butter would make the stuffing taste bitter and dry, and the bread crumbs and yolks mixed in afterwards would not bind as smoothly.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, flour, egg):
- Arrowrootbetter flavor fit
- Leekbetter flavor fit
- Spinachbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, flour, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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