Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,122 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the tomatoes, onion, cloves, and parsley in a double boiler for 10 minutes.
Strain the mixture.
In a separate pan, brown the butter. Add the flour to the browned butter and mix well.
Gradually add the strained tomato pulp to the butter and flour mixture.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,768 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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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 + oniontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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 flavor of the sauce once cooked and strained.
- Butter
- Carries fat for browning, adding a nutty richness to the base.
- Flour
- Cooked with the butter to form a roux that thickens the sauce.
The step that matters
Adding the strained tomato pulp to the roux. Adding liquid gradually while stirring keeps the flour smooth and prevents lumps, because starch granules clump when they meet hot liquid all at once.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, clove, parsley, butter, flour, pepper):
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Shallotbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, clove, parsley, butter, flour, pepper. 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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