Name: Caribbean-style Black Bean Soup
Ingredients: 1 lb dried black beans, washed and stones removed; 3 onions, chopped; 1 green pepper, chopped; 4 cloves garlic, minced (powdered works fine, too); 1 ham hock or 3/4 cup cubed ham; 1 tablespoon oil; 1 tablespoon ground cumin; 2 teaspoons dried oregano; 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 1 tablespoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 3 cups water; 2 tablespoons vinegar

Why it works: Cumin and oregano match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Cumin + oreganotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together983 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Beans + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,188 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,756 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Black beans: Provide the main body and starch that thicken the soup, especially the pureed half.
Onions: Add sweetness and savory depth as they soften during the long cooking.
Garlic: Adds pungent aroma that mellows and deepens during slow cooking.
Ham hock or ham: Contributes smoky, salty flavor and fat to the broth.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the rich, earthy flavor of the beans.

The step that matters

Add vinegar after cooking, not before. Acid added while beans are still cooking can slow their softening, leaving them firm. Adding vinegar near the end brightens flavor once the beans are fully tender.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, pepper, clove, garlic, ham, cumin, oregano):

Eggplantfits better
Spinachfits better
Tomatofits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, pepper, clove, garlic, ham, cumin, oregano. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Caribbean-style Black Bean Soup