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Salad

Onion and Tomato Salad

A fresh salad of sliced tomatoes and onions dressed with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

Onion and Tomato Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wipe the tomatoes with a wet towel and slice them about ¼ inch thick.

  2. Peel the onion and slice it very thin.

Assemble and serve

  1. Arrange the sliced onion and tomatoes in layers in a salad bowl.

  2. In a separate bowl, mix the salad oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper to make the dressing.

  3. Pour the dressing over the salad and serve immediately.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,226 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Provide the main body and juice that mingles with the dressing.
Onion
Adds sharp, pungent flavour that mellows when thinly sliced.
Salad oil
Carries flavour and coats the tomato and onion slices for a smooth mouthfeel.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the salad and balances the oil.

The step that matters

Pour the dressing over the salad and serve immediately. Tomatoes release liquid and salt draws out more moisture, so the salad can turn watery if it sits. Serving right after dressing keeps the slices crisp and the flavours fresh.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, vinegar, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Cucumberfits better
  3. Mustardfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, vinegar, 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.

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