Name: Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients: 4 large smooth tomatoes; 1 cup stale bread crumbs; 1 tablespoon chopped onion; ½ teaspoon salt; dash of pepper; 1 tablespoon melted butter

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Stuffed Tomatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Slice off the stem ends of the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds.
In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, onion, salt, pepper, and melted butter.
Fill the tomatoes with the stuffing, heaping it in the center.
Place the stuffed tomatoes in a baking pan.

Bake and serve

Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes.
Carefully lift them with a cake turner and place on a hot dish to serve.

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,013 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes: Form the edible shell that holds the stuffing and softens into a juicy base as it bakes.
Stale bread crumbs: Absorb moisture and hold the stuffing together while adding body to the filling.
Melted butter: Adds fat that carries flavour and helps the crumbs brown lightly in the oven.