Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 27,232 recipes mention both. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Escalloped Tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Assemble
Layer half of the tomatoes in an escallop dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dot with butter.
Add a layer of bread crumbs on top.
Repeat the layers until all ingredients are used, finishing with crumbs and butter on top.
Bake
If using fresh tomatoes, bake for 1 hour; if using canned, bake for 30 minutes.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,013 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the moisture and acidity that soften the crumbs into a saucy base.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb tomato juice and set into a soft, layered structure as they bake.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the top crumbs brown as they bake.
- Sugar
- Balances the tomatoes' acidity and adds gentle sweetness.
The step that matters
Choosing the bake time for fresh versus canned tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes hold more water and need a longer bake to cook down and thicken, while canned tomatoes are already softened and need less time. Following the matching time keeps the dish from being watery or dry.
“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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