Name: Tomato Sauce for Fish
Ingredients: 1 pint white sauce; 1 small grated onion; 1 small can strained tomatoes; 1 stalk finely chopped celery

Why it works: Tomato and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,377 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Tomato Sauce for Fish

Ingredients

1 pint white sauce
1 small grated onion
1 small can strained tomatoes
1 stalk finely chopped celery

Directions

In a saucepan, combine the white sauce, grated onion, strained tomatoes, and chopped celery.
Heat the mixture over medium heat until warmed through, stirring occasionally.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together3,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sauce + tomatotop 15% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together5,469 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sauce + oniontop 19% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together10,474 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sauce and onion share little aroma chemistry, yet 10,474 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

White sauce: Forms the creamy base that carries the other flavors and gives the sauce body.
Strained tomatoes: Provide the main tomato flavor and acidity, along with a smooth, pourable liquid.
Grated onion: Adds savory aroma and depth, releasing flavor as it warms in the sauce.
Celery: Contributes a mild, fresh aromatic note that rounds out the sauce.

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, tomato, celery):

Capsicumbetter flavor fit
Carrotbetter flavor fit
Mustardbetter flavor fit
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, tomato, celery. 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.