Name: Dungeness Crab Bisque
Ingredients: 2 Dungeness crabs, 1 to 1 1/2 lb. each, cooked; 2 Tbs. unsalted butter; 1 small yellow onion, chopped; 1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped; 1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped; 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned); 1 1/2 cups dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc; 1 Tbs. chopped fresh tarragon (optional); 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; 3 cups bottled clam juice; 3 cups water; 1 cup heavy cream; 1 Tbs. Cognac or other good-quality brandy; Pinch of cayenne pepper; Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. 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.

Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Celery + tarragontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together456 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Carrot + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,606 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Carrot + tarragontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together463 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

Swap the tarragon

The recipe marks tarragon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (crab, butter, onion, carrot, celery, tomato, white wine):

Parsleyfits about as well
Thymefits about as well
Garlicfits about as well
Tarragonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against crab, butter, onion, carrot, celery, tomato, white wine. 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
Clam	100g cooked	148
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Crab	100g cooked	97
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Tarragon	1 tsp dried (0.5g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Cognac	not in our table	0
Brandy	not in our table	0

Dungeness Crab Bisque