Why it works: Pepper and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,913 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
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 cutlets
Saw off the chine bone and remove the leaf fat from the cutlets.
Divide the meat into cutlets and trim them.
If desired, lard the cutlets.
Bake
Place the cutlets on a buttered baking tray. Pour a little salad oil or melted butter over the cutlets.
Season with cayenne pepper and coarse sea salt.
Cover with buttered paper and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 20 minutes.
Finish and serve
Drain off the fat and coat the cutlets with thick tomato sauce.
Decorate with truffle and serve with a piped puree of green peas and thin tomato sauce around.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pepper + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together17,913 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + peastop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,058 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + truffletop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,209 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Truffle + peastop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together139 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Tomato + saucetop 7% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together5,468 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cutlets
- Form the main body of the dish, carrying the meat that is cooked and served.
- Salad oil or melted butter
- Adds fat and moisture to the surface, helping the cutlets brown and stay tender in the oven.
- Thick tomato sauce
- Adds acidity and body, coating the cutlets with a rich, savoury layer.
- Puree of green peas
- Adds a soft, sweet, vegetal contrast to the richer meat and sauce.
The step that matters
Bake under buttered paper. Covering the cutlets with buttered paper traps moisture and gently cooks the meat, while the fat keeps the surface from drying out. Too long or too hot and the meat toughens and dries.
Flavor stand-ins for the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, tomato, sauce, truffle):
- Beansbetter flavor fit
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, tomato, sauce, truffle. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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