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 Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Pass the tomato through a fine sieve.
Mix the sieved tomato with the cheese, butter, and cayenne pepper until it forms a stiff paste.
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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Cheddar cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,436 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheddar cheese + tomatotop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,865 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Cheddar cheese + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,016 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
- Milled cheddar cheese
- Provides the bulk, richness and flavour, and firms the paste as it binds with the butter.
- Butter or nut margarine
- Adds fat that makes the paste smooth and spreadable.
- Ripe tomato
- Supplies moisture and acidity that brighten the cheese and loosen the mixture.
The step that matters
Mixing to a stiff paste. The tomato must be sieved so no seeds or lumps remain, and the mix must be worked until fully combined. Unevenly mixed cheese and butter can separate or feel grainy instead of forming a smooth, stiff paste.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheddar cheese, butter, pepper):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Chivefits about as well
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cheddar cheese, butter, 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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