Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,923 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Parboil the tomatoes until the skin slips off.
Peel and mash the tomatoes.
Make the sauce
Add 1 ounce of butter for every pound of tomatoes.
Season with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Simmer over low heat until fully cooked.
If adding toast, increase the amount of butter.
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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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ripe tomatoes
- Provide the main body and bulk of the sauce as they break down when mashed and simmered.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the sauce a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Simmer over low heat until fully cooked. Low heat lets the mashed tomatoes thicken gradually and develop flavour without scorching on the bottom of the pan. High heat can burn the solids before the sauce reduces.
“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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