Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Broiled Tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the tomatoes into thick slices without peeling.
Brush each slice with melted butter.
Broil and serve
Broil the tomatoes, turning frequently, until cooked.
Place them on a hot dish.
Season each slice with coarse sea salt, black pepper, and a small piece of butter.
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.
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the juicy body and gentle acidity that the broiled slices are built around.
- Butter
- Adds fat that carries flavor and helps the surface brown under the broiler.
The step that matters
Broil until cooked, turning frequently. Direct broiler heat browns and dries the cut surface quickly. Turning the slices often lets them cook through evenly while keeping them juicy rather than scorched or shriveled.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Carrotfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper. 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.
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