Why it works: Beef and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,448 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Heat a skillet and add the browned flour.
Once hot, add the butter and beef broth.
Boil until thickened to the consistency of cream.
Stir in the tomato catsup.
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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Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + beeftop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Butter + tomatotop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Flour + tomatotop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,065 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Browned flour
- Thickens the sauce and adds a toasted, nutty flavour.
- Fresh butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the sauce a smooth mouthfeel.
- Beef broth
- Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens as it boils.
- Tomato catsup
- Adds sweet, tangy tomato flavour and acidity.
The step that matters
Boil until thickened to the consistency of cream. Flour thickens only as its starch swells in hot liquid. Boiling long enough lets the sauce reach the target thickness; stopping too early leaves it thin and watery.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, beef):
- Chivefits better
- Leekfits better
- Potatofits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, beef. 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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