Name: Tomatoes Au Gratin
Ingredients: 6 tomatoes; 2 tablespoons grated cheese; fresh bread crumbs; small piece of butter

Why it works: Bread and butter 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 ↓

Tomatoes Au Gratin

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

6 tomatoes
2 tablespoons grated cheese
fresh bread crumbs
small piece of butter

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the tomatoes

Cut the tomatoes in half.
Remove the seeds.
Mix the grated cheese into the tomato halves.
Stuff the mixture into each tomato.

Bake

Sprinkle a pinch of fresh bread crumbs on top of each tomato.
Place the tomatoes in a baking dish with a small piece of butter.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 15 minutes.

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,130 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,013 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Tomato + cheesetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,896 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

Tomatoes: Provide the base that softens and holds the cheese filling while baking.
Grated cheese: Melts and browns on top, adding richness and savory flavor to the filling.
Fresh bread crumbs: Form a crisp, golden topping that helps the gratin brown.
Butter: Adds fat that promotes browning and a rich flavor in the baking dish.