Name: Spring Vegetable Tagine
Ingredients: 1 Tbs. olive oil; 8 oz. cipolline onions, peeled, ends trimmed; 12 oz. fingerling potatoes; 1 1⁄2 tsp. tagine spices; 3⁄4 cup chicken stock; 8 oz. baby carrots, peeled, ends trimmed; 8 oz. summer squash, cut into 1⁄2-inch slices; 8 oz. zucchini, cut into 1⁄2-inch slices; Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste; 8 oz. haricots verts, ends trimmed; Finely grated zest of 1 lemon; 2 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; Steamed couscous for serving

Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 8,053 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

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.

Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together8,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together14,037 recipes

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

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, potato, chicken, carrot, pepper, lemon, parsley):

Capsicumbetter flavor fit
Tomatobetter flavor fit
Spinachbetter flavor fit
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, potato, chicken, carrot, pepper, lemon, 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).

Spring Vegetable Tagine