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 Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Squeeze the tomatoes through a sieve to extract the juice.
In a saucepan, combine the tomato juice with a few tablespoons of beef gravy.
Simmer the mixture slowly for a short time.
Season with pepper and coarse sea salt to taste.
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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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + beeftop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 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
- Tomatoes
- Provide the juice that forms the body and bright acidity of the sauce.
- Beef gravy
- Adds savory depth and body to the tomato juice.
The step that matters
Simmer slowly. Gentle simmering lets the tomato juice reduce and concentrate its flavor without scorching. Too rapid a boil can make the sauce taste harsh or cause it to stick and burn on the bottom of the pan.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
- Carrotfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper. 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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