Why it works: Pepper and tomato 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 ↓
Spanish Toast
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Combine the chopped green peppers and onion in a saucepan.
Add the thick tomatoes and simmer the mixture until smooth.
Serve
Pour the tomato mixture over the buttered toast.
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 + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 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
- Green peppers
- Provide the main vegetable body and a mildly bitter, fresh flavor to the sauce.
- Onion
- Adds savory aroma and depth as it softens into the sauce.
- Tomatoes
- Supply moisture and acidity, cooking down into the smooth base of the sauce.
- Buttered toast
- Gives a crisp, buttery base that holds the sauce and soaks up its juices.
The step that matters
Simmering until smooth. Simmering long enough softens the peppers, onion and tomatoes so they break down into an even sauce. Stopping early leaves chunks and a thin, watery texture that runs off the toast.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, tomato):
- Capsicumfits better
- Eggplantfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, tomato. 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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