Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 9,057 recipes mention both. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Another Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the quartered tomatoes, onions, parsley, thyme, 1 clove, and butter in a saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring for about 45 minutes.
Strain the sauce through a fine sieve and serve.
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.
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Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,108 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Tomato + thymetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,370 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Parsley + clovetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,768 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together11,171 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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, acidity and liquid that becomes the sauce as they break down.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and savoury depth as they soften and dissolve into the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds fat and a rounder, silkier mouthfeel to the finished sauce.
The step that matters
Cooking over medium heat while stirring. Medium heat lets the tomatoes and onions break down and concentrate gradually. Stirring prevents scorching on the base of the pan, which would give the sauce a burnt taste.
Flavor stand-ins for the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, onion, parsley, thyme, butter):
- Marjorambetter flavor fit
- Garlicbetter flavor fit
- Tarragonbetter flavor fit
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, onion, parsley, thyme, butter. 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.
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