Why it works: Scallop and spinach work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and 8 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
One servingIngredients
Contains: egg, shellfish (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.
Bring a small pan of water to a boil, add the spinach for about 30 seconds until wilted, then drain, cool under cold running water and squeeze dry.
Blend the spinach with the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil until smooth to make the spinach sauce, then chill.
Cut the boiled potato into bite-sized pieces and toss with a little olive oil, the chopped chives and a spoonful of the mayonnaise and mustard mixture to make the potato salad.
Heat a grill pan or grill over high heat and brush it lightly with olive oil.
Pat the scallops dry, brush with olive oil and grill for 1 to 2 minutes per side until opaque and firm, reaching 145°F (63°C) internally.
Cut the half octopus into pieces, brush with olive oil and grill for 2 to 3 minutes, turning, until hot and lightly charred.
Warm the cherry tomato halves briefly on the grill, about 30 seconds, then spread the spinach sauce on a plate.
Arrange the potato salad, grilled scallops, octopus and cherry tomatoes over the sauce and garnish with the parsley sprig.
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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Scallop + spinachtop 16% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together8 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Potato + chivetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together611 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Potato + parsleytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Spinach + chivetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together163 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Mustard + chivetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together587 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the cherry tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (scallop, potato, spinach, olive, mustard, chive, parsley):
- Lemonbetter flavor fit
- Avocadobetter flavor fit
- Limebetter flavor fit
- Cherry tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against scallop, potato, spinach, olive, mustard, chive, parsley. 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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