Why it works: Chive and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,149 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Stuffed Tomatoes, Mackay Style
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
Prepare the tomatoes by removing the tops and scooping out the insides.
In a bowl, mix the chopped pork, veal, and marrow with salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley, chives, garlic, and tarragon.
Stuff the mixture into the prepared tomatoes.
Bake and serve
Arrange the stuffed tomatoes in a buttered flat saucepan and place a slice of fat pork on top of each.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until cooked through.
Before serving, squeeze lemon juice over the tomatoes and serve with a reduced tomato puree or half glaze.
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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Chive + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,149 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Parsley + chivetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,150 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork
- Provides savory meaty filling that becomes firm and juicy when cooked.
- Veal
- Adds tender meat texture and mild savory flavor to the stuffing.
- Marrow
- Adds richness and fat that keeps the filling moist and flavorful.
- Fat pork
- Slices laid on top baste the tomatoes with fat as they bake, adding moisture and flavor.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich meat filling.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pork, veal, pepper, parsley, chive, garlic):
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pork, veal, pepper, parsley, chive, garlic. 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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