Name: Fettuccine Alfredo I
Ingredients: from lois flack; cyberealm bbs (315)786-1120; 1 tbsp margarine; 2 small cloves garlic, minced; 1 tbsp all-purpose flour; 1 1/3 cup skim milk; 2 tbsp light process cream cheese-; -product; 1 1/4 cup (2 ½ oz.) grated fresh-; -parmesan cheese, divided; 4 cup hot cooked fettuccine, -; -cooked without salt or fat; 2 tsp chopped fresh parsley; freshly ground pepper

Why it works: Cream cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 311 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. 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.

Cream cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together311 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,308 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,768 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Milk: Forms the liquid base that thickens into a smooth, creamy sauce.
All-purpose flour: Thickens the sauce as it cooks with the melted margarine.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savory, salty flavor and melts into the sauce for body.
Cream cheese: Adds richness and helps keep the sauce smooth and creamy.
Margarine: Provides fat for cooking the garlic and flour into a roux.
Garlic: Adds aroma and savory flavor to the sauce.

The step that matters

Adding the milk to the roux. Adding milk gradually while whisking keeps lumps from forming, because flour must be evenly dispersed before the starch thickens the liquid.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, flour, milk, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, pepper):

Basilfits better
Oreganofits better
Dillfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, flour, milk, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, pepper. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Fettuccine Alfredo I