Name: Stuffed Green Peppers
Ingredients: 1 stalk celery, chopped; 3 large tomatoes, chopped; 3 ears tender corn, kernels removed; 1 cup bread crumbs; 1 tablespoon butter; ½ cup cream sauce; ½ cup crushed crackers; Salt and pepper to taste; 3 medium green peppers

Why it works: Celery and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,377 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Stuffed Green Peppers

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cut off the ends of the peppers and remove the seeds and surplus inside, then soak the peppers in cold water.
Boil a small young fryer chicken until tender, then allow it to cool in the broth.
Remove the meat from the chicken and chop it finely.

Fill and bake

Mix the chopped chicken, celery, tomatoes, corn, bread crumbs, butter, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Add the cream sauce to the mixture and stir well.
Stuff each pepper with the filling and sprinkle with crushed cracker crumbs.
Add a little water to the baking dish to prevent sticking.
Bake for 30 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.

Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Tomato + corntop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,099 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 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

Green peppers: Form the shell that holds the filling and softens as it bakes.
Bread crumbs: Absorb liquid and give the filling body so it holds its shape.
Cream sauce: Adds moisture and richness, binding the filling together.
Tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity to the filling.
Butter: Adds fat and richness to the filling.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, corn, bread, butter, cream, sauce, pepper):

Celerythe original
Tarragonfits about as well
Parsleyfits about as well
Garlicfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, corn, bread, butter, cream, sauce, 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.