Why it works: Pepper and tomato 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 ↓
Cheese and Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Combine the butter and flour in a bowl.
Add the strained tomatoes and bring the mixture to a boil for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the salt, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne, grated cheese, and minced green pepper.
Serve
Serve hot with fish.
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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Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cheese + tomatotop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,896 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together7,861 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and cooks with the flour to form a smooth base.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as it heats with the butter and tomatoes.
- Strained tomatoes
- Form the liquid base and provide the sauce's tangy, acidic flavour.
- Tasty cheese
- Melts into the sauce, adding savoury flavour and a creamy texture.
The step that matters
Stir in the cheese off the heat. Residual heat melts the grated cheese gently and evenly. Cheese held at a rolling boil can turn stringy, grainy or oily, so the sauce should be removed from heat first.
Flavor stand-ins for the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cheese, flour, pepper, tomato):
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Parsleybetter flavor fit
- Oreganobetter flavor fit
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cheese, flour, pepper, tomato. 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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