Why it works: Tomato and beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,713 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Swiss Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Arrange slices of ripe tomatoes, cooked French beans, and green peas in circular rows in a salad bowl.
Fill the center with slices of cooked pickled beetroot.
Season with mayonnaise sauce or vinaigrette.
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.
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Tomato + beanstop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,713 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beans + beetroottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together215 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Beans + peastop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together949 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Tomato + peastop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,058 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + beetroottop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together250 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, beans, beetroot, sauce):
- Chickpeafits better
- Lentilsfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, beans, beetroot, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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