Name: Tarragon Lemon Marinade
Ingredients: 1/2 cup olive oil; 1/2 fresh lemon (juiced); 1/2 tsp cloves; 1 tbs tarragon; 1 tbs parsley; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 1 tsp Braggs Liquid Aminos; 2 apples (freshly juiced); 1 tbs. blackstrap molasses; bay leaf

Why it works: Lemon and parsley 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 ↓

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.

Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,037 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,563 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,137 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Olive oil: Carries fat-soluble flavours and keeps the tofu or tempeh moist.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and helps the marinade penetrate.
Blackstrap molasses: Adds sweetness and a dark colour that browns during baking.
Apple juice: Adds natural sweetness and mild fruity acidity to balance the savoury notes.

The step that matters

Soaking time. Marinade penetrates tofu or tempeh slowly, so a short soak leaves the centre bland. Soaking for at least four hours or overnight lets the flavours reach the interior.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, lemon, clove, tarragon, parsley, pepper, molasses):

Limefits better
Orangefits better
Cherryfits better
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, lemon, clove, tarragon, parsley, pepper, molasses. 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
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Tarragon	1 tsp dried (0.5g)	2
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1

Tarragon Lemon Marinade