Why it works: Onion and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,633 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Onion Stew
Ingredients
Directions
Sauté the sliced onions in a pot until they are soft.
If using, add the ripe tomatoes and cook until they are tender.
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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Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 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
- Onions
- Softened slowly in the pot, they become sweet and form the base of the stew.
- Tomatoes
- Add moisture and a mild acidity, and soften into the stew as they cook.
The step that matters
Sautéing the onions until soft. Cooking sliced onions gently until fully soft lets their natural sugars develop and mellow their sharpness. Rushing this step leaves the onions raw-tasting and the stew flat.
“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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