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Salad

Tomato and Onion Salad

A fresh salad of sliced tomatoes and thinly sliced Bermuda onion 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 ↓

Tomato and Onion Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Peel and slice the tomatoes into ½ inch thick slices.

  2. Slice the Bermuda onion very thin.

Assemble and serve

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

  2. Pour the dressing made of salad oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper over the salad.

  3. 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 juicy moisture of the salad.
Bermuda onion
Adds sharp, pungent flavor that contrasts with the sweet tomatoes.
Salad oil
Carries fat-soluble flavor and coats the vegetables for a smoother mouthfeel.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the oil.

The step that matters

Slice the onion very thin. Thin onion slices lose their harsh sulfur compounds more easily in the dressing and become mild and tender rather than sharp. Thick slices stay pungent and are harder to eat in the salad.

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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