Why it works: Pepper and gin work together. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and 44 recipes mention both. Both carry myrcene, which smells balsamic, herbaceous. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4-6.Ingredients
Contains: milk (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.
Pat the drained, rinsed olives dry and place them in a medium bowl with the halved serrano peppers, sliced garlic and slivered lemon peel.
Combine the olive oil, gin, dried oregano and thyme sprigs in a small saucepan. Warm over low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring, until fragrant. Do not let it boil.
Pour the warm gin mixture over the olives and stir well. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice so the flavors soak in.
Let the mixture cool completely, then transfer it to a clean jar or container with a lid. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
Just before serving, stir in the cubed feta and bring the olives back to room temperature for about 10 minutes.
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.
-
Pepper + gintop 21% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together44 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
-
Oregano + thymetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together791 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Lemon + thymetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,973 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + lemontop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,039 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Olive + feta cheesetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,438 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the garlic
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, pepper, lemon, gin, oregano, thyme, feta cheese):
- Rosemarybetter flavor fit
- Basilbetter flavor fit
- Dillbetter flavor fit
- Garlicthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, pepper, lemon, gin, oregano, thyme, feta cheese. 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).
The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.