Name: Tomato and Green Pepper Salad
Ingredients: 1 large tomato, chilled, sliced; 2 large green peppers; 1 small stalk celery; mayonnaise

Why it works: Tomato and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,377 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Tomato and Green Pepper Salad

Ingredients

1 large tomato, chilled, sliced
2 large green peppers
1 small stalk celery
mayonnaise

Directions

Chop the tomato, green peppers, and celery well.
Add mayonnaise to the chopped vegetables and mix thoroughly.
Serve alongside a meat course.

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 + celerytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 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

What each ingredient does

Tomato: Adds juicy moisture and mild acidity that brightens the salad.
Green peppers: Contribute crisp texture and a fresh, slightly bitter vegetal flavor.
Celery: Adds crunch and a clean, savory aroma to the chopped vegetables.
Mayonnaise: Binds the chopped vegetables with fat and adds creamy richness.