Why it works: Tomato and lettuce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,655 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Drop the tomatoes into boiling water for 2–3 minutes.
Remove the skin of each tomato.
Cut off about ¼ of each tomato.
Scoop out the center of each tomato.
Fill each tomato shell with chipped ice.
Refrigerate the filled shells for 2–3 hours.
Make the salad
Dice the pulp and the upper part of the tomatoes.
Drain the diced tomatoes.
Season the mayonnaise with salt.
Mix the seasoned mayonnaise with the diced tomatoes.
Empty the tomato cups.
Fill the emptied cups with the salad mixture.
Serve
Serve the salad on a lettuce leaf.
Garnish the plate with nasturtium leaves.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Tomato + lettucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,655 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
- Tomatoes
- Form the edible cups and supply the juicy, fresh body of the salad.
- Mayonnaise dressing
- Adds fat and creaminess, binding the diced tomato into a rich, smooth filling.
The step that matters
Drain the diced tomatoes. Tomatoes release a lot of liquid when cut. If they are not drained well, the mayonnaise thins into a watery dressing and the salad becomes soggy in the cups.
“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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