Why it works: Peas and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Modern Cookery
Ingredients
Directions
Dip thin slices of meat or vegetables into beaten egg and coat with bread crumbs.
Fry until golden brown.
Alternatively, stew until tender, then drain and glaze.
Serve in a circle with peas or tomato puree in the center.
For vol-au-vent, keep the filling white and mix with bechamel sauce.
For a curried version, mix with plenty of vegetables or other meat after baking or stewing.
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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Peas + tomatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,058 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Bread + tomatotop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,013 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Bread + peastop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together804 recipes
Shared aroma: hexyl acetate (fruity, apple).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Bread + meattop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,924 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, bread, meat, tomato, sauce):
- Beansfits better
- Peasthe original
- Lima beansfits about as well
- Peanutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, bread, meat, tomato, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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