Name: Fillets of Beef and Tomatoes
Ingredients: 1 lb fillet of beef; 1 oz butter; 2 firm tomatoes; Tomato sauce (see 'Diabetic Sauces')

Why it works: Beef and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,448 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Fillets of Beef and Tomatoes

Ingredients

1 lb fillet of beef
1 oz butter
2 firm tomatoes
Tomato sauce (see 'Diabetic Sauces')

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Cut the beef into thick slices and trim into neat fillets. Season the fillets.
Slice the tomatoes and place them on a buttered baking sheet.

Bake and serve

Bake the tomatoes in a 400°F (200°C) oven until tender.
Serve the beef fillets with the baked tomatoes and tomato sauce.

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.

Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,448 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,338 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,469 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,847 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Butter + tomatotop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,918 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Fillet of beef: Forms the main protein of the dish, cooked to tenderness from thick, neatly trimmed slices.
Butter: Adds richness and helps keep the tomatoes from sticking to the baking sheet.
Firm tomatoes: Soften in the oven, releasing moisture and mellowing their acidity into a tender side.