Why it works: Tomato and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 15,539 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Tomato Salad, Plain
Ingredients
Directions
Peel and slice the tomatoes.
Season the tomatoes with salt, pepper, olive oil, and vinegar.
Garnish with finely sliced celery.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together15,539 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,377 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Olive + celerytop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,667 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the juicy body and gentle natural sweetness of the salad.
- Olive oil
- Adds fat that carries flavour and softens the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the tomatoes and balances their sweetness.
The step that matters
Season the tomatoes. Salt draws moisture out of the tomato flesh, so the dressing can become watery if the salad sits too long. Seasoning shortly before serving keeps the texture crisp and the flavours concentrated.
Flavor stand-ins for the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper, olive, vinegar):
- Basilbetter flavor fit
- Garlicbetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, olive, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
More tomato salad recipes
You might also like
Chicken Salad623 recipes
Salad Dressing491 recipes
Cold Slaw160 recipes
Boiled Salad Dressing67 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.