Why it works: Tomato and lettuce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,655 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Scald and skin the tomatoes, cutting them into slices or sections, discarding the core.
Chill the tomatoes on ice until very cold.
Wash the fresh lettuce and place two or three young leaves in a saucer for each person.
Assemble
Slice each tomato neatly and arrange the slices on the lettuce leaves, keeping them looking whole.
Top each tomato with 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise.
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.
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Tomato + lettucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,655 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
- Fine ripe tomatoes
- Provide the main body and juicy flavor of the salad.
- Mayonnaise or french dressing
- Adds richness and fat, giving the tomatoes a creamy, tangy coating.
- Fresh lettuce
- Gives a crisp, cool base that holds the tomato slices.
The step that matters
Chill the tomatoes on ice until very cold. Cold firms the flesh so the tomato slices hold their shape when cut and arranged. Warm tomatoes are soft and tend to collapse and weep juice onto the lettuce.
“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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