Why it works: Biscuit and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 368 recipes. Both carry maltol, which smells caramel, sweet. The science ↓
Green Tomato Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Pare the tomatoes and remove the stem end.
Line a pie pan with biscuit dough.
Slice the tomatoes very thin and fill the pan heaping.
Season and bake
Grate nutmeg over the tomatoes.
Add ½ cup of butter and 1 cup of sugar if the pan is deep.
Sprinkle a small handful of flour over the mixture.
Pour ½ cup of vinegar over the top before adding the crust.
Bake for 30 minutes and serve hot.
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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Biscuit + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together368 recipes
Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Biscuit + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together889 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Butter and flour 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
- Medium-sized tomatoes
- Provide the main filling, becoming tender and juicy as they bake.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a smoother, rounder flavour.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the tart tomatoes and vinegar.
- Flour
- Thickens the juices released by the tomatoes as the pie bakes.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour of the green tomatoes.
The step that matters
Pour the vinegar over the filling before adding the crust. Green tomatoes are firm and tart; the acid softens the flavour balance and the flour must be evenly mixed to thicken the juices, so the filling does not turn watery or uneven during baking.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (biscuit, nutmeg, butter, sugar, flour, vinegar):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against biscuit, nutmeg, butter, sugar, flour, vinegar. 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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