Why it works: Garlic and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,076 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Gravy Steaixee
Ingredients
Directions
In a pot, bring 1 quart of stock to a boil.
Thicken the stock with brown thickening until it reaches the consistency of good cream.
Skim off any fat or grease that rises to the surface.
If the thickening is light in color, add a few drops of caramel.
Add a very small amount of ketchup if desired, but avoid Worcestershire sauce.
For added flavor, include garlic, port-wine dregs, or tomato pulp, especially for poultry.
Strain the gravy before serving to remove any burnt pieces.
If using wine, add it sparingly.
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.
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Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Wine + tomatotop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,759 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Garlic + winetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,790 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Tomato + sherrytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together492 recipes
Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).
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Tomato + meattop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,438 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the garlic
The recipe marks garlic as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wine, tomato, meat, sherry):
- Thymefits better
- Garlicthe original
- Rosemaryfits about as well
- Celeryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against wine, tomato, meat, sherry. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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