Why it works: Tomato and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,918 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Fried Tomato
Ingredients
Directions
Slice the ripe tomatoes.
Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat.
Fry the sliced tomatoes in the butter until golden brown.
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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Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 juice that softens and browns in the butter.
- Butter
- Conducts heat and adds fat, helping the tomato slices brown and gain richness.
The step that matters
Frying until golden brown. Tomatoes are mostly water. If the skillet is too cool, slices steam and release juice instead of browning. Medium heat lets the surface caramelize before the interior turns mushy.
“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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