Name: Fresh Tomatoes
Ingredients: fresh tomatoes; 1 tablespoon vinegar; 1 teaspoon oil; ¼ teaspoon mustard; ¼ teaspoon salt

Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Fresh Tomatoes

Ingredients

Directions

Slice the fresh tomatoes.
In a bowl, combine vinegar, oil, mustard, and salt.
Pour the dressing over the sliced tomatoes and serve.

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.

Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Tomato + mustardtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,482 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + vinegartop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,063 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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, moisture and fresh flavour of the salad.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the oil.
Oil: Carries fat-soluble flavour and gives the dressing a smooth, coating texture.
Mustard: Adds sharp flavour and helps the oil and vinegar stay emulsified.