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
Cook the stewed tomatoes and onion for a few minutes, then strain the mixture.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour, and stir until smooth.
Stir in the strained tomatoes and cook, stirring constantly until it boils.
Add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.
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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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour and butter share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Stewed tomatoes
- Provide the main body and tomato flavour of the sauce.
- All-purpose flour
- Thickens the sauce as it cooks with the butter and tomatoes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries flavour, and forms the base for the flour.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity of the tomatoes with a touch of sweetness.
The step that matters
Stir constantly once the tomatoes go in. Flour-thickened sauces can scorch on the bottom of the pan or form lumps if not stirred while heating. Constant stirring keeps the starch dispersed so the sauce thickens smoothly as it comes to a boil.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, flour, butter, sugar, pepper):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Okrabetter flavor fit
- Sweet potatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, flour, butter, 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.
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