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 ↓
Poinsettia Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Wash the tomatoes and cut through the skin at the blossom end to create five petals.
Carefully remove the skin from the tomato as thinly as possible and turn it back.
Lift the flesh from the seeds and place it in the center of the tomato.
Serve
Fill the center with mayonnaise dressing and serve on lettuce hearts.
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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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
- Smooth tomatoes
- Form the flower-shaped base and hold the dressing in their hollowed centers.
- Mayonnaise dressing
- Adds richness and moisture, and its fat balances the tomato's acidity.
- Lettuce hearts
- Provide a crisp, cool bed that supports the tomatoes.
The step that matters
Cutting the petals through the skin only. Cutting too deep splits the tomato into pieces, and peeling too thick a layer tears the skin. Thin, careful cuts keep the shape intact so the petals hold their form when turned back.
“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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