Why it works: Tomato and tarragon work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 391 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Tomato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Scald the tomatoes briefly, then skin them and set on ice to cool.
Slice the cooled tomatoes and place them in a salad bowl.
Dress and serve
Add the chopped tarragon and drizzle with the plain salad 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.
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 + tarragontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together391 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ripe august tomatoes
- Provide the main body, juice and flavour of the salad.
- Tarragon
- Adds a sharp, aromatic herbal note that complements the tomatoes.
- Plain salad dressing
- Adds moisture and seasoning that coats the tomato slices.
The step that matters
Scalding and cooling the tomatoes. Brief scalding loosens the skins so they peel cleanly without cooking the flesh. Chilling firms the tomatoes so the slices hold their shape rather than releasing excess juice into the bowl.
“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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