Name: Tomato Salad
Ingredients: 6 good sized tomatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces; 2 onions, chopped fine; 2 hard boiled eggs, cut into blocks; ½ cup sour cream; ⅓ cup vinegar; 1 teaspoon sugar; ¼ teaspoon pepper; ¼ teaspoon salt

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 Salad

Ingredients

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, chopped onions, and egg blocks.
In a separate bowl, mix the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, pepper, and salt to make the dressing.
Pour the dressing over the tomato, onion, and egg mixture and toss gently to combine.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together20,633 recipes

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

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together18,226 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes: Provide the bulk and juicy moisture that forms the body of the salad.
Sour cream: Makes a creamy, rich dressing that coats the vegetables and eggs.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the cream and sugar.
Hard boiled eggs: Add substance and a mild, creamy texture to the salad.

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, egg, cream, vinegar, sugar, pepper):

Capsicumbetter flavor fit
Cucumberbetter flavor fit
Mustardbetter flavor fit
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, egg, cream, vinegar, sugar, 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.