Name: Lebanese Zucchini
Ingredients: 2 cups tomato sauce (canned); 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 teaspoon dried dill; 1 teaspoon allspice; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 4 medium zucchini; 1 cup long-grain rice; 1 yellow onion, peeled, chopped, and browned; salt and pepper (optional)

Why it works: Cinnamon and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,536 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Lebanese Zucchini

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

321Calories

8 gProtein

1 gFat

73 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 10 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from Foodista.

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.

Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,536 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Dill + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,137 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Dill + allspicetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together52 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Allspice + lemontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,083 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, sauce, cinnamon, dill, allspice, lemon, rice):

Cucumberfits better
Carrotfits better
Capsicumfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, sauce, cinnamon, dill, allspice, lemon, rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.