Why it works: Tomato and lettuce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,655 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Sliced Tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Select nice, ripe tomatoes.
Pour boiling water over them and let them stand for three minutes.
Assemble and serve
Peel and slice the tomatoes on a bed of lettuce.
Add a few pieces of chipped ice and serve with French dressing.
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 + lettucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,655 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
- Ripe tomatoes
- Provide the main body and juicy, slightly acidic flavour of the salad.
- Lettuce
- Forms a crisp bed that holds the sliced tomatoes and adds freshness.
- French dressing
- Adds sweetness, acidity and fat to coat the tomatoes and lettuce.
The step that matters
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and let them stand for three minutes. The brief hot water loosens the skin so it peels easily, while the tomato flesh stays mostly firm. Leaving them much longer can soften the flesh and cook the outer layer.
“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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