Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,122 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Tomato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Scald the tomatoes in boiling water.
Remove the stems and skins.
Allow the tomatoes to cool.
Cut the tomatoes into thin slices.
Place the sliced tomatoes in a deep dish.
Make the dressing
In a bowl, combine the salt, pepper, and mustard.
Gradually add the vinegar and oil while beating thoroughly.
Mix the parsley into the dressing.
Assemble and serve
Pour the dressing over the tomatoes.
Serve.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,122 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).
-
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Parsley + mustardtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,588 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,398 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body, juice and fresh flavour of the salad.
- Salad oil
- Adds richness and carries flavour, while coating the tomatoes smoothly.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the oil.
- Made mustard
- Helps emulsify the oil and vinegar so the dressing stays blended.
The step that matters
Adding the vinegar and oil while beating. Adding the liquids gradually while beating breaks the oil into small droplets suspended in the vinegar. Pouring them in all at once lets the dressing separate, leaving the oil floating instead of coating the tomatoes.
Flavor stand-ins for the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, parsley, vinegar, pepper):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Cucumberbetter flavor fit
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, parsley, vinegar, pepper. 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.
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