Name: Skillet Corn Relish
Ingredients: 2 medium white onions, sliced; 1 medium red onion, chopped; 1 medium green pepper, cut in ½ inch strips; 1 medium red pepper, cut in ½ inch strips; 1 large jalapeno pepper, finely chopped; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 2 cups fresh corn; 2 large fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped; 1/2 teaspoon chili powder; ½ teaspoon granulated salt; 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper; 1/2 cup stuffed olives, thinly sliced

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).
Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Onions: Soften and add sweetness and savory depth as they cook down in the oil.
Fresh corn: Adds sweetness and a tender-crisp bite to the relish.
Fresh tomatoes: Supply moisture and acidity that form the base of the simmered sauce.
Olive oil: Carries flavor and softens the vegetables while they sauté.
Stuffed olives: Add salty, briny flavor and a firm texture to the finished relish.

The step that matters

Simmer covered for 15 minutes. Covering traps steam so the vegetables soften and their juices blend into a cohesive sauce; uncovered, too much liquid can evaporate and the mixture can scorch on the bottom of the pan.

Swap the jalapeno

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

Cuminfits better
Basilfits better
Thymefits better
Jalapenothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, pepper, clove, garlic, olive, corn, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Skillet Corn Relish