Why it works: Tomato and pepper 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 ↓
Tomato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel and slice the tomatoes.
Make the dressing
In a bowl, mix the raw egg with the hard boiled eggs, salt, pepper, sugar, mustard, and vinegar.
Smooth the yolks and season before adding to the raw egg.
Serve
Pour the dressing over the tomatoes and chill the dish on ice.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + mustardtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,482 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body and juicy moisture of the salad.
- Raw egg
- Binds with the cooked yolks to form a smooth, emulsified dressing.
- Hard boiled eggs
- Their yolks are mashed into the dressing, giving it body and richness.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the eggs.
- Sugar
- Softens the sharp acidity of the vinegar and mustard for a balanced flavour.
The step that matters
Smooth the yolks and season before adding to the raw egg. Mashing the cooked yolks fully until smooth prevents lumps, and seasoning them first lets the flavours distribute evenly. Adding them gradually to the raw egg helps the mixture emulsify into a uniform, creamy dressing rather than separating.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, pepper, sugar, mustard, vinegar):
- Horseradishfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, sugar, mustard, vinegar. 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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