Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Stewed Tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Place sliced tomatoes in a pot and cook over medium heat until nearly done.
Add butter, salt, pepper, sugar, and bread crumbs.
Stir well and cook thoroughly, stirring often until fully cooked.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,013 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 main body and liquid that softens into a stewed sauce as they cook.
- Stale bread crumbs
- Absorb tomato liquid and thicken the stew into a spoonable texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a rounded, smooth mouthfeel to the stewed tomatoes.
- Sugar
- Balances the natural acidity of the tomatoes with a touch of sweetness.
The step that matters
Stirring while the bread crumbs cook. Bread crumbs can settle and scorch on the bottom of the pot. Stirring often keeps them evenly distributed, prevents sticking, and lets them absorb liquid smoothly for an even texture.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, sugar, bread):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits about as well
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, sugar, bread. 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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