Name: Grilled Fish
Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic, about 3 cloves; 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, orange juice, or dry white wine; 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar; a pinch of cayenne pepper or hot red pepper flakes (optional); 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, or 1 teaspoon or more chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, dill, parsley, thyme, cilantro, basil, or mint, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or oregano, crumbled; freshly ground black pepper; 2 pounds fish steaks; lemon wedges for garnish

Why it works: Garlic and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,082 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Grilled Fish

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic, about 3 cloves
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, orange juice, or dry white wine
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar
a pinch of cayenne pepper or hot red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, or 1 teaspoon or more chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, dill, parsley, thyme, cilantro, basil, or mint, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or oregano, crumbled
freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds fish steaks
lemon wedges for garnish

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

482Calories

24 gProtein

29 gFat

30 gCarbs

Counts 18 of 19 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 18 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Rosemary	1 tsp dried (1.2g)	4
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Peppermint	not in our table	0

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

By epicurious. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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 + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Clove + cumintop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,306 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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, lemon, vinegar, pepper, cumin, fish):

Corianderfits better
Parsleyfits better
Thymefits better
Clovethe original

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

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