Name: Green Olive Relish
Ingredients: 500 g green olives, pitted and roughly chopped; 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped; 1/2 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped; 4 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted; 2 lemons, zest and juice; 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 1/2 teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes; 2 tablespoons capers, chopped,rinsed and dried; 80 ml extra virgin olive oil

Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Green Olive Relish

Ingredients

500 g green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted
2 lemons, zest and juice
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes
2 tablespoons capers, chopped,rinsed and dried
80 ml extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Place all ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine.
Serve with bread and ricotta.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

348Calories

6 gProtein

34 gFat

12 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 10 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pine Nut	1 oz (28g)	191
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Capers	1 tbsp (9g) drained	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,037 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together332 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Basil + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,823 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Parsley + basiltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,351 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Green olives: Provide the main body, salty brininess and firm bite of the relish.
Extra virgin olive oil: Adds fat and moisture that carries the herbs, lemon and garlic flavours.
Lemons: Add bright acidity and fragrant oils from the zest that balance the salty olives.
Capers: Contribute tangy, briny sharpness that reinforces the olive flavour.
Garlic: Adds pungent, aromatic bite that mellows as the relish sits.

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, parsley, basil, pine, lemon, clove, garlic):

Chickpeafits better
Cashew nutfits better
Lentilsfits better
Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, parsley, basil, pine, lemon, clove, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.