Name: Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients: 6 large bell peppers; 3 cups bread crumbs; ½ cup finely chopped meat; 3 tomatoes; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon pepper

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Stuffed Peppers

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cut around the stems of the peppers and remove the seeds.

Make the filling

In a bowl, mix bread crumbs, chopped meat, and the juice and pulp of the tomatoes.
Moisten the mixture with melted butter.

Fill and bake

Fill the pepper shells with the mixture and replace the stems.
Bake for about 20 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Bread + tomatotop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,013 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Bread + meattop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,924 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,964 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

Bell peppers: Serve as the edible shell that holds the filling while it cooks.
Bread crumbs: Absorb liquid and give the filling body so it holds its shape.
Chopped meat: Adds savoury richness and substance to the filling.
Tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity to the filling as their juice and pulp soak into the crumbs.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, helping the filling taste rich and stay moist.