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, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
Carefully remove the shoulders from the cold roast pig and take off the skin.
Trim the shoulders into a good shape and dip them in clarified butter or salad oil.
Coat the shoulders in seasoned breadcrumbs mixed with cayenne and salt.
Broil and serve
Broil the shoulders over a clear, brisk fire until heated through and evenly browned.
Serve immediately with tomato sauce or sauce Robert.
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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Butter + tomatotop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,890 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + peppertop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together85,512 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Clarified butter or pure salad oil
- Coats the surface so the breadcrumbs stick and the crust can brown evenly.
- Fine breadcrumbs
- Form a crisp, browned crust on the outside of the meat.
- Cayenne pepper
- Adds a sharp, warming heat to the crumb coating.
The step that matters
Broiling over a clear, brisk fire. The meat is already cooked, so the goal is only to heat it through and brown the crumb crust. A clear, brisk fire browns the outside quickly, before the interior dries out.
Flavor stand-ins for the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Tomatothe original
- Carrotabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper. 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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