Name: Spicy Cranberry-Zinfandel Relish
Ingredients: 1 cup dried cranberries; 3/4 cup red Zinfandel; 1/4 tsp. mustard seeds; 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil; 1/2 small onion, peeled and finely diced; 1 clove garlic, finely chopped; 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger; 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne or 1/2 ripe habanero chile, cut into very thin strips; 1 Tbs. granulated sugar or 2 Tbs. brown rice syrup; 1/4 tsp. salt; 1/4 cup rice vinegar or white wine

Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 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.

Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Mustard + garlictop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,053 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,259 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,402 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

Dried cranberries: Plump up in wine and provide the bulk, tartness and chewy texture of the relish.
Red zinfandel: Adds fruity depth, and as it reduces it concentrates into a glossy, flavourful sauce.
Granulated sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the tart cranberries and vinegar.
Rice vinegar or white wine: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the sweetness.
Onion: Softens into sweet, mild savoury base when sautéed until translucent.

The step that matters

Reduce liquid by half. Reducing concentrates the wine and cranberry juices and thickens the mixture as sugars concentrate. Stop too early and the relish stays watery; cook too long and it turns sticky and overly sweet once cool.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, onion, garlic, ginger, sugar, rice):

Turmericfits better
Cuminfits better
Cinnamonfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, onion, garlic, ginger, sugar, rice. 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Seed	not in our table	0
Syrup	not in our table	0

Spicy Cranberry-Zinfandel Relish