Why it works: Tomato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,633 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Haricot Bean Pie
Ingredients
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.
Layer the cooked haricots, sliced tomatoes, fried onion, soaked tapioca, and salt in a dish.
Pour the brown sauce over the layers.
Cover the layers with the wholemeal crust.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until the crust is light brown.
Rub the butter into the wholemeal to make the crust.
Moisten the wholemeal with water.
Roll out the crust.
Decorate as desired.
Brush the crust with egg for a better appearance.
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 + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,469 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Onion + saucetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,474 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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
- Haricot beans
- Provide the bulk and body of the filling, holding the pie's shape when sliced.
- Wholemeal
- Forms the crust, giving structure and a nutty, wholesome flavour.
- Butter
- Rubbed into the flour, it shortens the crust, making it tender and crumbly.
- Tomatoes
- Add moisture and a gentle acidity that brightens the filling.
- Soaked tapioca
- Thickens the juices from the filling as it heats, keeping the layers from running.
- Spanish onion
- Frying softens and sweetens the onion, adding savoury depth and aroma.
The step that matters
Moisten the wholemeal gradually. Adding water a little at a time hydrates the flour evenly so the dough holds together. Too much water makes the crust sticky and tough, while too little leaves it crumbly and hard to roll.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, onion, sauce):
- Chivefits better
- Potatofits better
- Shallotfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, onion, sauce. 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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