Name: Escalloped Tomatoes
Ingredients: 2 ripe tomatoes, skinned and sliced; 1 cup fine cracker crumbs; ½ teaspoon pepper; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt; 2 teaspoons butter

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 ↓

Escalloped Tomatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a small baking dish or individual cups, layer the sliced tomatoes with alternate layers of cracker crumbs, pepper, salt, and bits of butter.
Use about 2 teaspoons of butter for each tomato.
Top with a final layer of cracker crumbs.

Bake and serve

Bake for 30 minutes and serve in the baking dish.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,918 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes: Provide the juicy filling that softens and moistens the layers as it bakes.
Cracker crumbs: Absorb tomato juices and give the dish a body that holds together, with a crisp top.
Butter: Adds richness and fat that helps the top brown in the oven.