Why it works: Tomato and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,667 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Raw Tomatoes with Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Peel the tomatoes and cut them into three slices.
Sprinkle sugar over the slices.
Serve immediately before the sugar dissolves.
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 + sugartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,667 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body and fresh, slightly acidic flavor of the dish.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the tomato's acidity and dissolves into its juices.
The step that matters
Serve immediately before the sugar dissolves. Sugar draws moisture out of the tomato through osmosis, so it dissolves into a syrupy liquid over time. Serving right away keeps the tomato firm and the sugar crisp and distinct on the surface.
“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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