Name: Tomatoes with Butter
Ingredients: 4 large tomatoes; pepper; coarse sea salt; 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 ↓

Tomatoes with Butter

Ingredients

4 large tomatoes
pepper
coarse sea salt
butter

Directions

Slice the tomatoes.
Sprinkle with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Sauté in butter for five minutes.
Serve with the butter used for cooking.

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.

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 main body and juice that softens and warms through during the quick sauté.
Butter: Conducts heat evenly for sautéing and adds richness and a savory, nutty aroma.

The step that matters

Sauté in butter for five minutes. Sliced tomatoes hold a lot of water. Too little heat makes them steam and go watery, while too much can scorch the butter before the tomatoes soften. Keep the pan at a steady medium heat so the juices reduce and the surfaces lightly brown.