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Salad

Tomatoes with Mayonnaise

A salad of sliced tomatoes topped with homemade mayonnaise.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Tomatoes with Mayonnaise

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mayonnaise

  1. In a bowl, combine the egg yolk, a little vinegar, salt, and pepper to form a smooth cream.

  2. Slowly add the oil and vinegar alternately, a few drops at a time, while stirring gently and constantly.

  3. Continue until you achieve the desired quantity of mayonnaise.

  4. Keep the mayonnaise in a cool place until ready to use.

Serve

  1. Serve the mayonnaise over the sliced tomatoes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Tomato + mustardtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,482 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Raw egg yolk
Emulsifies the oil and vinegar so the mixture thickens into a stable, creamy mayonnaise.
Oil
Forms the bulk of the mayonnaise, giving it richness and a smooth, creamy texture.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the richness of the oil and sharpens the flavor.
Tomatoes
Provide the fresh, juicy base that the mayonnaise is served over.

The step that matters

Adding the oil and vinegar slowly. Oil must be added a few drops at a time while stirring constantly so the egg yolk can emulsify it into fine droplets. Adding it too fast can break the emulsion, leaving the mayonnaise oily and separated.

Swap the mustard

The recipe marks mustard as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, vinegar, egg, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Cucumberfits better
  3. Mustardthe original
  4. Spinachfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, vinegar, egg, 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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