Name: Baked and Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients: firm, ripe tomatoes; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon butter; ¼ teaspoon pepper; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon cracker-dust or bread crumbs; water

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Baked and Stuffed Tomatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cut a thin slice from the stem end of each tomato and remove the green core.

Stuff and bake

Fill the cavity with chopped onion, butter, pepper, salt, and cracker-dust.
Arrange the stuffed tomatoes in a baking pan and add a little water.
Bake in the preheated oven until tender.
Serve hot.

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,013 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 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

Firm, ripe tomatoes: Form the main body of the dish and soften into tender, juicy shells as they bake.
Onion: Adds savory flavor and aroma to the stuffing as it cooks.
Butter: Adds richness and fat that carries flavor through the stuffing.
Cracker-dust or bread crumbs: Absorbs juices from the tomato and helps the stuffing hold its shape.