Name: Summer Fest: Eggplant Chips with Cilantro Pesto
Ingredients: 2 cups fresh cilantro, packed; 1/3 cup cashews, un-roasted and unsalted; 2 cloves garlic, skin removed; 1/2 cup olive oil + 3 tbsp; 1/2 cup Asiago cheese, grated; 4 Japanese eggplants, thinly sliced into rounds; 2 tbsp salt; 1 tsp paprika; 1 tsp garlic salt; 2 cups fresh cilantro, packed; 1/3 cup cashews, un-roasted and unsalted; 2 cloves garlic, skin removed; 1/2 cup olive oil + 3 tbsp; 1/2 cup Asiago cheese, grated; 4 Japanese eggplants, thinly sliced into rounds; 2 tbsp salt; 1 tsp paprika; 1 tsp garlic salt; extra salt and pepper to taste

Why it works: Garlic and eggplant match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 801 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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 + eggplanttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together801 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Olive + eggplanttop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together943 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Clove + eggplanttop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together154 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, olive, cheese, eggplant, pepper):

Oreganofits better
Basilfits better
Thymefits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, olive, cheese, eggplant, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Cashew	1 oz (28g / ~18 nuts)	157
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Eggplant	1 cup cubed (82g)	35
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Summer Fest: Eggplant Chips with Cilantro Pesto