Name: Tomato and Shrimp Salad
Ingredients: 1 large tomato; ½ cup cooked shrimp; 2 tablespoons mayonnaise; Lettuce leaves

Why it works: Tomato and lettuce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,655 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Tomato and Shrimp Salad

Ingredients

1 large tomato
½ cup cooked shrimp
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Lettuce leaves

Directions

Prepare the tomato

Cut off the top of the tomato and scoop out the insides.

Assemble and serve

In a bowl, mix the shrimp with mayonnaise.
Fill the hollowed tomato with the shrimp mixture.
Serve the stuffed tomato on a lettuce leaf.

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.

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.

Tomato + lettucetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,655 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + shrimptop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,689 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Shrimp + lettucetop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together430 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Tomato: Acts as a hollow edible shell that holds the filling and adds fresh, slightly acidic juiciness.
Shrimp: Provides the main protein and a mild, savory bulk for the filling.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and moisture so the shrimp mixture binds together and stays creamy.