Name: Stuffed Baked Tomatoes
Ingredients: 1 smooth tomato; 1 teaspoon butter; 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs; 1 teaspoon sugar

Why it works: Butter and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Stuffed Baked Tomatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

1 smooth tomato
1 teaspoon butter
1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon sugar

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the tomato

Wash the tomato and cut a thick slice from the stem end.

Fill and bake

Scoop out the pulp and mix it with the butter, breadcrumbs, and sugar.
Fill the cavity of the tomato with the mixture.
Top with additional buttered breadcrumbs, using equal amounts of butter and breadcrumbs.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until soft.

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.

Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,918 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Tomato + sugartop 33% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,667 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

Tomato: Forms the edible shell that holds the filling and softens during baking.
Breadcrumbs: Absorb the tomato pulp and butter, giving the filling body and a lightly browned top.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and helps the breadcrumb topping brown.
Sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the tomato.