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 ↓
Fried Tomatoes with Brown Gravy
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wipe the tomatoes with a wet cloth and slice them ½ inch thick.
Cover the slices with flour seasoned with salt and pepper.
Fry the tomatoes
Heat enough lard in a pan to be ½ inch deep until smoking hot.
Fry the tomatoes in the hot lard, browning them on both sides carefully.
Transfer the fried tomatoes to a hot dish and repeat with remaining slices.
Pour out the lard, saving it for future use.
Make the gravy and serve
In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon each of flour and butter, stirring until brown.
Gradually stir in 2 cups of boiling water and season with salt and pepper.
Let the gravy boil for 2 minutes, then pour it onto a deep platter.
Lay the fried tomatoes on top without breaking them and serve hot.
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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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 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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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body and juicy flesh that softens and carries the browned crust.
- Flour
- Coats the slices to form a browned crust and thickens the gravy when cooked with butter.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavour to the gravy roux and helps it brown.
- Lard
- Conducts heat for frying and gives the tomato coating a crisp, browned surface.
The step that matters
Browning the flour and butter for the gravy. Cooking the flour and butter together until brown toasts the starch and develops nutty flavour, while stirring prevents scorching. Adding boiling water gradually keeps the roux smooth without lumps.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, pepper, butter):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, pepper, butter. 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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