Name: Low-cal Spanish Baked Fish
Ingredients: 1 1/2 lbs fish fillets; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp paprika; 1/4 tsp pepper, fresh ground; 1 each pepper, green, in rings; 1 each tomatoes, sliced; 1 small onion, sliced; 2 tbsp lemon juice; 2 tbsp oil, olive; 1 cl garlic, minced; 2 each lemons, *

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. 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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Fish fillets: Forms the main body of the dish and cooks through in the oven until it flakes.
Olive oil: Carries the garlic and lemon flavour and keeps the fish moist during baking.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the fish and balances the richness of the oil.
Tomatoes: Release juices as they bake, adding moisture and a mild sweetness to the sauce.
Onion: Softens and sweetens slightly as it bakes, adding savoury depth to the topping.
Garlic: Adds pungent aroma that mellows and sweetens as it cooks in the oil.

The step that matters

Covered baking before uncovering. Baking covered first traps steam so the fish cooks gently and stays moist. Uncovering for the final minutes lets the surface firm slightly. Check for flaking to avoid overcooking, which makes fish dry and tough.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, pepper, tomato, onion, olive, garlic):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, pepper, tomato, onion, olive, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Low-cal Spanish Baked Fish