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Tomato Chops

Tomato chops are tomato and potato patties coated in breadcrumbs and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,798 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Tomato Chops

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. In a saucepan, combine the drained tomatoes and mashed potatoes over medium heat.

  2. Stir in the butter, salt, pepper, and grated bread crumbs until mixed thoroughly.

  3. Remove from heat and add the beaten egg, mixing well.

  4. Let the mixture cool, then shape it into chop forms.

Bread and fry

  1. Dip each chop in egg and roll in dried bread or cracker crumbs.

  2. Fry in boiling fat until golden brown.

Serve

  1. Arrange on a platter and serve with tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes.

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 + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 recipes

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

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

  4. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  5. Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,013 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Drained tomatoes
Provide the main flavour and moisture of the chops.
Mashed potatoes
Bind the mixture and give the chops a soft, creamy body.
Butter
Adds richness and fat for flavour and a tender texture.
Grated bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help the mixture hold its shape.
Egg
Binds the mixture and forms a coating that helps the crumbs stick.

The step that matters

Cooling the mixture before shaping. The mixture must cool and firm up enough to hold its shape. If it is still hot and soft, the chops will slump and may break apart during frying.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, pepper, bread, egg):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butter, pepper, bread, egg. 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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