Name: Twice-Baked Garlic Soufflés
Yield: Makes 6 individual soufflés
Ingredients: 5 tbsp butter; 1 head of fresh garlic, trimmed and chopped roughly, or 5 cloves dried garlic, papery skins removed, chopped; 1/2 tsp vinegar; 1 cup milk; 3 tbsp all-purpose flour; leaves from a couple of sprigs of thyme; 1 cup grated Cantal, Comté or Cheddar cheese; 1/2 cup grated Parmesan; 4 large eggs, separated; 1 1/4 cups heavy cream; seasoning, nutmeg, extra Parmesan, a few bread crumbs

Why it works: Garlic and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,608 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

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.

Garlic + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,608 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + cheddar cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,436 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + cheddar cheesetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,964 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Garlic + vinegartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,115 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

Swap the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, garlic, vinegar, milk, flour, cheddar cheese, egg):

Jalapenofits better
Parsleyfits better
Capersfits about as well
Thymethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, garlic, vinegar, milk, flour, cheddar cheese, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3

Twice-Baked Garlic Soufflés