Why it works: Cucumber and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,405 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Cucumber Salad, Spanish Style
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cucumbers as described in the previous recipe.
Slice the green bell peppers and peeled tomatoes.
Add the sliced bell peppers and tomatoes to the cucumbers when dressing.
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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Cucumber + tomatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,405 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cucumber + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,991 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
Swap the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, tomato):
- Capsicumfits better
- Eggplantfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Cucumberthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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