Name: Stuffed Peppees
Ingredients: 8 to 12 salted green peppers; 1 teaspoon onion, finely chopped; 2 cups cooked rice; 1 teaspoon sage; 1 cup chopped peanuts; buttered crumbs for topping

Why it works: Pepper and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Stuffed Peppees

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the peppers

Soak the peppers in water for 2 hours.
Boil the peppers until tender.

Fill and bake

In a bowl, combine onion, rice, sage, and peanuts.
Fill the pepper cavities with the mixture.
Top with buttered crumbs.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.

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.

Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,388 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Rice + peanuttop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together670 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Onion + peanuttop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,043 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,433 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Cooked rice: Provides the bulk of the filling and absorbs flavor while keeping the stuffing soft.
Chopped peanuts: Adds crunch and a rich, nutty flavor that contrasts with the soft peppers and rice.
Green peppers: Serve as the edible shell that holds the filling while softening during cooking.