Name: Raw and Cooked Scallops, Cured Pork, Seeds, Shoots and Nuts
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 200g/7¼oz belly pork; 50g/1¾oz demerara sugar; 50g/1¾oz sea salt; 2 litres/3½ pints groundnut oil; 2 vanilla pods; 2 juniper berries; 1 tsp coriander seeds; 1 stick cinnamon; 2 cloves; 2 cardamom; 1 sprig fresh lemon; 1 garlic; 4 large diver-caught scallops; dash groundnut oil; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 10ml/½fl oz yuzu juice (Japanese citrus juice, available from specialist Japanese stores, if unavailable, substitute with fresh lime juice; 1 lime; 1 tsp sesame oil; 2 tsp soy sauce; 100ml/3½fl oz Pedro Ximinez sherry; 1 tsp pine nuts; 1 tsp pumpkin seeds; 1 tsp sunflower seeds; 1 tsp unsalted peanuts; 20g/¾oz bean sprouts, trimmed; 6 very thin slices of pata negra chorizo, at room temperature (substitute high-quality cured chorizo if unavailable); 6 slices of Jabugo ham; small handful fresh basil; small handful fresh coriander; 1 Granny Smith apple

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. 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.

Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Cinnamon + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,299 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together872 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,114 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Cardamom + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together405 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 vanilla

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, sugar, coriander, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, lemon):

Limefits better
Orangefits better
Mangofits about as well
Vanillathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, sugar, coriander, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Pine Nut	1 oz (28g)	191
Sunflower Seed	1 oz (28g) hulled	165
Peanut	1 oz (28g)	161
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Cardamom	1 tsp ground (2g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Coriander	not in our table	0
Seed	not in our table	0
Yuzu	not in our table	0
Citrus Juice	not in our table	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0
Bean	not in our table	0

Raw and Cooked Scallops, Cured Pork, Seeds, Shoots and Nuts