Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Shrimps with Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomato sauce in a chafing dish.
Add the can of shrimps to the tomato sauce.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Season with salt and cayenne pepper.
Serve on toast, in scallop shells, or in small dishes.
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.
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,469 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Tomato + shrimptop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,689 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Sauce + shrimptop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,423 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Shrimp + peppertop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,692 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylethanol (rose, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomato sauce
- Forms the liquid base of the dish and carries the flavor of the shrimp.
- Shrimps
- Provide the main protein and savory seafood flavor in the sauce.
- Cayenne pepper
- Adds gentle heat that sharpens the flavor of the tomato sauce.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, shrimp, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatothe original
- Mustardfits about as well
- Okrafits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, shrimp, pepper. 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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipes
Tomato Bisque61 recipes
Cream Tomato Soup28 recipes