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 ↓
Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the tomatoes and onion in a saucepan and cook for about 15 minutes.
Strain the mixture to remove solids.
Mix the cornflour with a little water to form a paste, then add it to the strained tomato mixture.
Boil until thickened, then serve with cutlets.
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.
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body and tomato flavour of the sauce.
- Cornflour
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells when heated with liquid.
- Onion
- Adds aromatic sweetness and savoury depth to the tomato base.
The step that matters
Adding the cornflour paste. Cornflour must be mixed with cold water first so it disperses without lumps, then added to the hot sauce and boiled. Starch only thickens fully once it reaches a boil, so the sauce should be boiled until it visibly thickens.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Eggplantfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, 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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