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Stewed Tomatoes

Stewed tomatoes cooked with butter, salt, pepper, and served with toast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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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 ↓

Stewed Tomatoes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the tomatoes

  1. Scald the tomatoes by pouring water over them.

  2. Peel, slice, and remove any defective parts.

Cook

  1. In a hot skillet, melt a lump of butter.

  2. Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.

  3. Cook over brisk heat for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

Serve

  1. Serve immediately in a deep dish lined with toast.

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.

  1. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Fresh tomatoes
Provide the main body and juices that form the stewed sauce as they soften.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour as it melts into the tomatoes.
Toast
Soaks up the juices, giving a base that holds the stewed tomatoes.

The step that matters

Cook over brisk heat for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Brisk heat with frequent stirring helps excess moisture evaporate so the tomatoes thicken rather than stay watery. Stirring prevents scorching on the bottom of the skillet.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. 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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