Name: Italian Special
Ingredients: 1 vegan bread roll (white, wholemeal, rye etc..); a few sprigs of parsley; 1/4 cup pitted black or stuffed olives; a dash of lemon juice; a little olive oil; pepper; a slice of tofu; 1 tablespoon sundried tomato paste; lettuce leaves

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 ↓

Italian Special

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Marinade the tofu in the lemon juice and olive oil for a few minutes.
Split the vegan bread roll in half.
Slice the olives.

Assemble

Spread the vegan bread with sundried tomato paste and scatter the olives over.
Place the tofu over everything.
Sprinkle all over with pepper and/or salt.
Top with the lettuce leaves.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

783Calories

26 gProtein

22 gFat

124 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 10 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Rye	1 slice (32g)	83
Tofu	100g firm	76
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	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).
Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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).
Parsley + olivetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,649 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Tofu: Provides the main protein and body of the filling, and absorbs flavour from the lemon and oil marinade.
Vegan bread roll: Forms the base and holds the filling together as the sandwich structure.
Sundried tomato paste: Adds concentrated savoury, slightly sweet tomato flavour and moisture to the bread.
Olives: Contribute salty, briny flavour and a little fat to the filling.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, rye, parsley, olive, pepper, tofu, tomato):

Avocadofits about as well
Limefits about as well
Lemonthe original
Cherryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, rye, parsley, olive, pepper, tofu, tomato. 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.