Name: Tomatoes with Peanuts
Ingredients: 12 solid ripe tomatoes, peeled and chilled; 2 cups roasted peanuts, finely chopped; 12 olives or 3 dill pickles, finely chopped; mayonnaise dressing; lettuce leaves

Why it works: Tomato and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Tomatoes with Peanuts

Ingredients

12 solid ripe tomatoes, peeled and chilled
2 cups roasted peanuts, finely chopped
12 olives or 3 dill pickles, finely chopped
mayonnaise dressing
lettuce leaves

Directions

Prepare

Chill the peeled tomatoes on ice.
In a bowl, mix the chopped peanuts, olives or pickles, and mayonnaise dressing.

Fill and serve

Cut round holes in the center of each tomato and fill with the nut mixture.
Serve the stuffed tomatoes on lettuce leaves and drizzle with additional mayonnaise dressing.

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 + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Olive + lettucetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,580 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Tomato + lettucetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,655 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Peanut + lettucetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together170 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Peanut + olivetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,027 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Roasted peanuts: Provide the crunchy, rich filling that gives the stuffed tomatoes their main texture.
Mayonnaise dressing: Binds the chopped nut and olive mixture and adds moisture and richness.
Tomatoes: Serve as the hollowed edible shell that holds the filling.