Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Baked Tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the tomatoes
Cut the ends off the tomatoes and slice them in half.
Season the tomatoes with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Fry
Heat clarified butter in a frying pan.
Add the tomatoes to the pan.
Fry the tomatoes lightly on both sides.
Sprinkle fresh bread crumbs over the tomatoes.
Sprinkle finely chopped parsley over the tomatoes.
Bake
Arrange the tomatoes in a baking dish.
Sprinkle more bread crumbs over the tomatoes.
Sprinkle more parsley over the tomatoes.
Place a small piece of butter on each tomato.
Bake in the oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,398 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,013 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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 juicy, slightly acidic flavor that softens when cooked.
- Clarified butter
- Fries the tomatoes lightly, adding richness and browning without milk solids burning.
- Fresh bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden topping that absorbs juices and adds texture.
- Butter for topping
- Melts over the tomatoes during baking, adding richness and helping the topping brown.
The step that matters
Bake until golden. Baking long enough lets the crumbs toast and the butter brown, giving the crisp topping. Stopping too early leaves the crumbs pale and soft, while overbaking can dry the tomatoes.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, bread, parsley):
- Carrotfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, bread, parsley. 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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