Name: Scalloped Okra and Tomatoes
Ingredients: 1 can of tomatoes; 1 can of okra; 2 thinly sliced onions; 1 scant teaspoon of salt; a little paprika; 1 tablespoon of dripping (lamb or mutton); dry rolled bread crumbs

Why it works: Tomato and okra work together. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 327 recipes. Both carry damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Scalloped Okra and Tomatoes

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Layer the casserole

Layer ½ can of tomatoes, ½ can of okra, and 1 sliced onion in a baking dish.
Sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of salt and a little paprika. Add ½ tablespoon of dripping between the layers.
Repeat layers, finishing with dry rolled bread crumbs on top.

Bake and serve

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes and serve hot.

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 + okratop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together327 recipes

Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).
Okra + oniontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together715 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,013 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Okra + lambtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29 recipes

Shared aroma: geraniol (rose, geranium).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes: Provide moisture and acidity that give the casserole its juicy body.
Okra: Adds bulk and a soft, thickened texture as it cooks down with the tomatoes.
Onions: Contribute savory sweetness and aroma as they soften during baking.
Dripping: Adds fat that carries flavor and helps keep the layers moist.
Dry rolled bread crumbs: Form a crisp, browned topping over the moist layers below.