Name: Cook the Book: Corn, Tomato, and Lobster Salad
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 cups roughly chopped ripe tomatoes; 2 cups dry white wine; 1/2 cup water; 1 cup thinly sliced onions; 3 black peppercorns; 2 sprigs fresh tarragon; One 1½-pound lobster; 2 tablespoons minced shallot or red onions; 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar; 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice; ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest; 1/3 cup plus ½ teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil; ½ teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning; 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1¼ cups silver Queen (or other regional variety) fresh corn kernels (from about 2 ears); 1 pint mixed tiny heirloom tomatoes, such as cherry, cherub, grape, or pear, of different; colors and sizes; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves; 8 bibb lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry; Freshly ground black pepper

Why it works: Tarragon and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 602 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

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.

Tarragon + shallottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together602 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Tarragon + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,137 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
White wine + champagnetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together96 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Shallot + lemontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,523 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Tomato + tarragontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together391 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, white wine, tarragon, lobster, shallot, champagne, lemon):

Chivefits better
Lettucefits better
Mustardfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, white wine, tarragon, lobster, shallot, champagne, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Pear	1 medium (178g)	101
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Cherry	1 cup (138g)	87
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Red Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Tarragon	1 tsp dried (0.5g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Champagne	not in our table	0

Cook the Book: Corn, Tomato, and Lobster Salad