Why it works: Pepper and tomato 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 ↓
Meat Patties
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.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Line small patty pans with puff pastry.
Chop the remnants of chicken or other meat finely.
Season the meat with salt and pepper.
Heat the meat in a little butter until warm.
Fill the pastry shells with the meat mixture.
Return the filled shells to the oven until slightly browned.
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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Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Chicken + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,031 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
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Pepper + buttertop 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
Swap the tomato
The recipe marks tomato as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, butter):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Onionfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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