Name: Golden Beets with Smoked Trout and Dill
Ingredients: 12 small golden beets, each 1 1/2 to 2 inches in; diameter; 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil; 1 tsp. sea salt; 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature, or; crème fraîche; 1 smoked trout fillet, about 5 oz., broken into; bite-size pieces; 1/4 cup minced fresh dill; 2 packages water crackers for serving (optional)

Why it works: Olive and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,223 recipes. Both carry methyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells apple, fatty. 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.

Olive + dilltop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,223 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Cream cheese + dilltop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together156 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Olive + cream cheesetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,003 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

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

Swap the dill

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

Capersfits better
Garlicfits better
Dillthe original
Basilfits about as well

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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Beet	1/2 cup (85g)	35
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Trout	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Golden Beets with Smoked Trout and Dill