Why it works: Sweet potato and agave share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 10 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4Ingredients
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.
Place the peeled, cubed sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook until very tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes.
While the potatoes cook, heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the fresh rosemary and dried thyme and cook gently for about 5 minutes, until fragrant. Remove from heat.
Drain the sweet potatoes well and return them to the pot over low heat for 1 minute to let excess moisture evaporate.
Add the butter, agave nectar, cinnamon, salt and black pepper to the hot potatoes. Mash until smooth.
Stir in the rosemary and thyme oil from the skillet, mashing until evenly combined. Let the mash rest, covered, for 5 minutes before serving warm.
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.
-
Sweet potato + agavetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together10 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Rosemary + thymetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,340 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Olive + rosemarytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,489 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Rosemary + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Thyme + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sweet potato, olive, rosemary, thyme, agave, pepper, butter):
- Sagebetter flavor fit
- Basilbetter flavor fit
- Parsleyabout as good a flavor fit
- Cinnamonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sweet potato, olive, rosemary, thyme, agave, pepper, butter. 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.