Why it works: Liver and tomato work together. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 146 recipes. Both carry 1-nonanal, which smells fatty, waxy. The science ↓
Liver Fried As Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the liver
Cut the liver into thin slices.
Scald the liver and wipe it dry with a towel.
Coat and fry
Beat the eggs in a bowl.
Dip the liver slices in the eggs, then coat them with powdered crackers.
Fry the coated liver in hot oil until browned.
Serve with tomatoes if desired.
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.
-
Liver + tomatotop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together146 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).
-
Liver + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,177 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + tomatotop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,890 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
- Liver
- Forms the main body of the cutlet, providing the dish's substance and rich flavour.
- Eggs
- Bind the cracker coating to the liver slices so it adheres during frying.
- Powdered crackers
- Form a crisp, browned coating that protects the liver while it fries.
The step that matters
Fry the coated liver in hot oil until browned. If the oil is not hot enough, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy instead of crisping. Frying too long dries the liver and makes it tough, so the slices should brown and be removed promptly.
Swap the tomato
The recipe marks tomato as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (liver, egg):
- Asparagusfits better
- Chivefits better
- Mustardfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against liver, 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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipes
Tomato Bisque61 recipes
Cream Tomato Soup28 recipes