Why it works: Tomato and pepper 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 ↓
Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Remove the stalks from the tomatoes and squeeze out the juice and seeds.
In a 3‑pint saucepan with a close‑fitting lid, add the tomatoes.
Add ⅓ cup of water, salt, pepper, and the bouquet garni.
Boil for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring frequently until soft.
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve.
Make the sauce
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan.
Stir in 1 teaspoon of flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and gradually add the tomato puree, stirring constantly.
Add ½ cup of stock, preferably flavored with ham or bacon.
Boil for 15 minutes, adding more stock if the sauce is too thick.
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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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Fresh tomatoes
- Provide the main body, flavor and liquid of the sauce once cooked down and sieved.
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce with fat and a rounder, smoother mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce by swelling with the butter and liquid to form a roux.
- Stock
- Adds savoury depth and moisture, and is added to adjust the sauce's thickness.
The step that matters
Cooking the flour into the butter. Flour must cook for 2 to 3 minutes so its starch is fully cooked and the raw floury taste is removed. Adding the tomato puree gradually while stirring constantly keeps the roux smooth without lumps.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, flour):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, flour. 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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