Name: Spiced Wine-Braised Veal Shanks and Sweet Potato Puree
Yield: Serves 6.
Ingredients: 6 veal shanks, about 3 1/2 lb. total; Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste; 1 Tbs. vegetable oil; 8 oz. shallots, peeled and halved; 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour; 2 Tbs. veal demi-glace; 1 cup port; 1/2 cup red wine; 2 cinnamon sticks; 3 whole cloves; 10 peppercorns; 2 tsp. beef stock concentrate mixed with 1 cup water; 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces; 3 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces; 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces; Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste; 1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh chives

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. 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.

Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Shallot + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,677 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Shallot + flourtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,081 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Red wine + clovetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together849 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

Swap the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pepper, shallot, flour, red wine, clove, beef):

Thymefits better
Marjoramfits better
Tarragonfits better
Cinnamonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pepper, shallot, flour, red wine, clove, beef. 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
Beef	100g cooked	250
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Chives	1 tbsp (3g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Veal	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Spiced Wine-Braised Veal Shanks and Sweet Potato Puree