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 Creole
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise and place them in a buttered baking pan.
Chop the green peppers finely and sprinkle them over the tomatoes, along with the chopped onion.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter in small bits and season with salt and paprika.
Bake and serve
Bake until the tomatoes are tender.
Place the baked tomato halves on slices of buttered toast.
In the pan, combine the remaining butter and flour, melt together, and brown.
Stir well and add the cream, letting it boil once.
Strain the sauce over the tomatoes and toast.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
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 that softens and forms the dish's base.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour and helping the tomatoes brown lightly.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and cream into a smooth, cohesive sauce when browned and combined.
- Cream
- Adds richness and body, giving the sauce a smooth, mellow texture.
- Green peppers
- Contribute a fresh, slightly bitter aroma and crisp-tender vegetable flavour.
The step that matters
Brown the butter and flour before adding the cream. Cooking flour in butter until browned removes its raw taste and thickens the sauce. Adding cream too early leaves a pasty, floury sauce that is less smooth.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, flour, onion, cream):
- Potatofits better
- Leekfits better
- Chivefits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, flour, onion, cream. 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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