Why it works: Mustard and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,356 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tomato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tomatoes
Peel and scoop out the pulp of 6 tomatoes.
Strain the juice off the pulp.
Slice the tomatoes.
Add 2 whole tomatoes.
Cut and strain them in the same way.
Make the salad
Chop 2 hard-boiled eggs.
Add the chopped eggs to the mixture.
Stir in 2 tablespoons of minced celery, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of mustard, and 1 teaspoon of vinegar.
Season with pepper and coarse sea salt to taste.
Mix everything together.
Serve the salad in a nest of lettuce.
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.
-
Mustard + lettucetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,356 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together15,539 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Celery + lettucetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,033 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
-
Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,377 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
- Tomatoes
- Form the main body of the salad and supply moisture and fresh acidity.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Add richness and body, giving the salad substance beyond the tomato.
- Olive oil
- Adds fat that carries flavour and gives the dressing a smooth, rounded texture.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp pungency and helps emulsify the oil and vinegar into a dressing.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the tomato and balances the richness of oil and egg.
The step that matters
Strain the tomato pulp. Tomatoes are mostly water, and excess juice left in the salad will thin the dressing and make it watery. Draining the pulp keeps the salad firm and the flavours concentrated.
Flavor stand-ins for the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, egg, olive, mustard, vinegar, pepper, lettuce):
- Tarragonbetter flavor fit
- Capersbetter flavor fit
- Dillabout as good a flavor fit
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, egg, olive, mustard, vinegar, pepper, lettuce. 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.
More tomato salad recipes
You might also like
Chicken Salad623 recipes
Salad Dressing491 recipes
Cold Slaw160 recipes
Boiled Salad Dressing67 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.