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Tomato Savouby

A tomato-based casserole with ham, breadcrumbs, cheese, and eggs served on toast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Tomato Savouby

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the tomatoes

  1. Scald the tomatoes and remove the skin.

  2. Place them in a buttered sauté pan.

  3. Bake for 15 minutes.

  4. Rub through a wire sieve.

Make the mixture

  1. In a stewpan, dissolve the butter and fry the shallots until soft.

  2. Add the chopped ham and parsley.

  3. Stir in the tomato puree, breadcrumbs, and cheese.

  4. Season with salt, white pepper, and cayenne.

Finish and serve

  1. Beat the eggs, then add to the mixture, stirring until set.

  2. Serve on hot buttered toast, sprinkled with grated cheese.

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.

  1. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,398 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Tomato + shallottop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together583 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Tomato + cheesetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,896 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

Tomatoes
Form the smooth, slightly acidic body of the savoy once puréed.
Eggs
Set when heated, binding the mixture so it holds together.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb liquid and thicken the purée, giving it body.
Butter
Adds richness and carries flavour from the shallots.
Cheese
Adds savoury flavour and salty depth to the mixture and topping.

The step that matters

Adding the eggs and stirring until set. Egg proteins set when heated and can curdle or turn grainy if the mixture gets too hot or is left unstirred. Stirring gently over low heat keeps the texture smooth and creamy.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, butter, shallot, ham, parsley, cheese, egg):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, butter, shallot, ham, parsley, cheese, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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