Name: Tomato Omelet
Ingredients: 2 medium-sized tomatoes; salt to taste; pepper to taste; eggs (for the omelet)

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 Omelet

Ingredients

2 medium-sized tomatoes
salt to taste
pepper to taste
eggs (for the omelet)

Directions

Prepare the tomatoes

Boil the tomatoes for a few minutes.
Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper.

Assemble and serve

Place the seasoned tomatoes on the omelet just before folding it.
Serve the omelet with the tomatoes entirely enveloped.

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.

Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together50,580 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Tomato + eggtop 34% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,890 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Pepper and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes: Provide moisture and a soft, juicy filling that adds acidity and fresh flavour.
Eggs: Set into the structure of the omelet, wrapping and holding the filling together.