Clove + Bergamot
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 51 recipes, and they share 17 flavor molecules: the top 15% of all ingredient pairs.
Do clove and bergamot go together?
Yes. 51 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 17 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 15% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
They overlap on 17 flavor molecules: 26% of bergamot's 66. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and linalool (floral, citrus). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What each one brings
clove
The tartness. Sour notes make up 12% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 3% for bergamot. It carries 294 molecules bergamot doesn't have.
bergamot
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 23% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 11% for clove. It carries 49 molecules clove doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with clove, top 20% with bergamot.
- Allspice: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 28% with bergamot.
- Rosemary: top 3% of pairs with clove, top 11% with bergamot.
- Ginger: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 18% with bergamot.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with clove and bergamot
We have no browsable recipe that lists both clove and bergamot.
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: clove has 294 molecules bergamot doesn't, and bergamot has 49 that clove doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 17 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 294 only in clove and the 49 only in bergamot.
Clove and bergamot questions
Do clove and bergamot go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 51 recipes, and they share 17 flavor molecules: the top 15% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do clove and bergamot taste good together?
They overlap on 17 flavor molecules: 26% of bergamot's 66. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and linalool (floral, citrus). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What goes with clove and bergamot?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with clove and top 20% with bergamot. Allspice and rosemary also fit both.
Can I use bergamot instead of clove?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: clove has 294 molecules bergamot doesn't, and bergamot has 49 that clove doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
Compare other ingredients
Ranks compare this pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. Molecule counts are what the studies and databases we aggregate have reported for each ingredient: a measure of coverage, not a full census. How we score pairs
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Bergamot. https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-bergamot. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_clove_vs_bergamot_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Bergamot},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-bergamot},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.