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Scalloped Corn and Tomatoes

A baked dish of corn and tomatoes layered with butter, onion, salt, pepper, sugar, and cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Corn and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,099 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Scalloped Corn and Tomatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Cut the corn from the ears.

  2. Peel and slice the tomatoes.

  3. Mince the onion.

  4. Season the corn with salt and pepper.

  5. Butter a baking dish.

Layer

  1. Layer the tomatoes in the dish, sprinkling with a little salt, sugar, and a teaspoon of onion.

  2. Cover lightly with cracker crumbs, then add a layer of corn.

  3. Repeat layering until all ingredients are used.

  4. Top with cracker crumbs and bits of butter.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until heated through.

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.

  1. Corn + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,099 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 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

Corn
Forms the bulk of the dish and releases starch and sweetness as it heats.
Tomatoes
Add moisture and acidity that soften and blend into the layers as they bake.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb liquid from the tomatoes and corn, helping the layers hold together and turn tender.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, and helps the top brown lightly in the oven.
Onion
Adds savory aroma and a mild flavor base to the layers.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, tomato, pepper, butter, sugar):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against corn, tomato, pepper, butter, sugar. 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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