Why it works: Garlic and catfish work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 133 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 5Ingredients
Contains: fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Juice the lemon into a non-metal bowl. Add the minced garlic, chopped onion, salt, pepper and olive oil, and whisk to combine.
Place the catfish fillets in a shallow dish, pour the marinade over them and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat the grill to medium-high, about 400°F (204°C), and oil the grates.
Remove the fillets from the marinade and discard the leftover marinade, since it has touched raw fish.
Grill the fillets for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until the internal temperature reaches 145°F (63°C) or the flesh is opaque and flakes easily.
Transfer the fillets to a plate, rest for 2 minutes, and serve.
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.
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Garlic + catfishtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together133 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Lemon + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,039 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Garlic + olivetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Lemon + olivetop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together10,849 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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 (lemon, garlic, pepper, olive, catfish):
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Spinachabout as good a flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, garlic, pepper, olive, catfish. 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).
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