Name: Devilled Tomatoes
Ingredients: 4 large tomatoes; Salt and pepper to taste; ½ cup all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons butter for sautéing; 3 tablespoons butter for sauce; ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper; 2 teaspoons sugar; 1 hard-cooked egg yolk; 1 teaspoon mustard; 1 egg; ½ teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoons vinegar

Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

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.

Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + mustardtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,482 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,066 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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 of the dish, softening and browning on the outside when sautéed.
All-purpose flour: Forms a light coating that browns in the butter and helps the slices turn golden.
Egg: Thickens the sauce as it cooks gently, giving it a smooth, body-rich texture.
Hard-cooked egg yolk: Creates a rich, smooth base for the sauce when creamed with butter.
Butter: Adds fat for sautéing and enriches the sauce with richness and flavor.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor of the sauce and balances its richness.

The step that matters

Cook the sauce over hot water, stirring constantly. Egg proteins set gradually as they heat. Constant stirring over gentle heat keeps the eggs from scrambling or curdling, so the sauce thickens smoothly.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, flour, butter, sauce, sugar, egg, mustard):

Shallotfits better
Horseradishfits better
Chivefits better
Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, flour, butter, sauce, sugar, egg, mustard. 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.

Devilled Tomatoes