Why it works: Basil and wine work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 936 recipes mention both. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓
The recipe
6 servingsIngredients
Contains: wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set out an oven-safe skillet.
Mix the flour, garlic salt, dried basil, salt and pepper on a plate. Pat the pork chops dry and coat both sides in the flour mixture.
Heat the olive oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chops for about 3 minutes per side, then move them to a plate.
Pour the Marsala wine into the skillet and simmer for 2 minutes, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom.
Return the chops to the skillet and spoon the sauce over them. Add a splash of water if the sauce gets too thick. Cover and bake for 35 minutes.
Check that the thickest part of the chops reaches at least 145°F (63°C). Rest for 3 minutes, then spoon the pan sauce over the chops and serve.
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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Basil + winetop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together936 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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Basil + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,292 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Garlic + olivetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Olive + basiltop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,868 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Garlic + basiltop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,805 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the garlic
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, pork, olive, basil, wine, pepper):
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Rosemarybetter flavor fit
- Oreganoabout as good a flavor fit
- Garlicthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, pork, olive, basil, wine, pepper. 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).
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