Why it works: Tomato and corn match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,099 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Tomatoes Stuffed with Corn
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Grease a pudding dish.
Cut a slice from the top of each tomato and scoop out the seeds, leaving thick walls of pulp.
Fill and bake
In a bowl, mix the corn with butter, pepper, and coarse sea salt.
Fill the tomatoes with the corn mixture and replace the tops.
Pour a little gravy over the stuffed tomatoes.
Bake covered for one hour.
Serve in the dish.
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 + corntop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,099 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Large smooth tomatoes
- Act as the edible shell that holds the filling and softens as it bakes.
- Corn
- Provides the sweet, starchy filling that thickens slightly as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour through the corn filling.
- Gravy
- Adds moisture and savoury flavour to the dish as it bakes.
The step that matters
Scooping the tomatoes. Leaving thick walls of pulp keeps the tomato shells sturdy enough to hold the filling; cutting too thin risks tearing or collapse during baking.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Carrotfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, butter, 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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