Why it works: Tomato and basil are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,979 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Tomato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Slice the tomatoes and remove all the seeds.
Rub a dish with garlic.
Dress and season
Mix together the oil and vinegar in a ratio of 2:1.
Place the tomatoes in the mixture.
Sprinkle with pepper, salt, and finely minced basil.
Rest and serve
Let the salad sit in the sauce for 2 hours before serving.
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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Tomato + basiltop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,979 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Basil + garlictop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,805 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Basil + peppertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,294 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Basil + clovetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,437 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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 juicy texture of the salad.
- Oil
- Adds richness and carries flavour through the dressing.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the tomatoes and balances the oil.
- Mustard
- Helps the oil and vinegar stay combined and adds sharp flavour.
- Garlic
- Adds aroma to the dish when rubbed onto the serving dish.
- Basil
- Adds fresh, aromatic herbal notes to the salad.
The step that matters
Letting the salad sit in the sauce. The resting period lets the tomatoes absorb the oil, vinegar and seasonings, so the flavours blend. Serving too early leaves the dressing sitting on top and the salad tasting flat.
Flavor stand-ins for the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, vinegar, mustard, basil, pepper, garlic):
- Tarragonbetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Oreganobetter flavor fit
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, vinegar, mustard, basil, pepper, garlic. 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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