Name: Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho
Ingredients: 1/2 red onion, cut into 3/8-inch dice; 3 lb. heirloom tomatoes, cored and cut into 3/8-inch dice; 1 1/2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and cut into 3/8-inch dice; 1 Tbs. plus 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more, to taste; 5 tsp. fresh lemon juice; 4 Tbs. olive oil; 2 tsp. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley; Freshly ground pepper, to taste; 2 garlic cloves; 1/2 tsp. minced fresh thyme; 2 Tbs. sherry vinegar; 2 cups cubed French bread; 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 3/8-inch dice; Crème fraîche for garnish

Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,037 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, cucumber, lemon, olive, parsley, pepper, garlic):

Eggplantfits better
Spinachfits better
Broccolifits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, cucumber, lemon, olive, parsley, pepper, garlic. 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
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho