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
Prepare
Place sliced tomatoes on ice.
Make the dressing
Rub the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs into a smooth paste.
Gradually add salt, cayenne pepper, sugar, mustard, melted butter, and the raw egg to the yolk paste. Finally, mix in the vinegar.
Serve
Cover the tomatoes with the dressing and set on ice until ready to serve.
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.
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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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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + mustardtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,482 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks form a smooth, rich base that thickens and binds the dressing.
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body and juicy moisture of the salad.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat that makes the dressing smooth and rich.
- Mustard
- Adds sharpness that balances the richness of the yolks and butter.
The step that matters
Gradually add the raw egg to the yolk paste. Adding liquid ingredients slowly to a yolk paste helps them emulsify into a smooth dressing instead of separating into a greasy, broken sauce.
Flavor stand-ins for the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, egg, pepper, sugar, butter, vinegar):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Cucumberabout as good a flavor fit
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, egg, pepper, sugar, butter, vinegar. 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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