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Carmelized Onion and Green Olive Tapenade

A spread of caramelized onion, green olives, garlic, and wine, blended into a smooth tapenade.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

Carmelized Onion and Green Olive Tapenade

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the base

  1. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 7-8 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally.

  2. Stir in thyme and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

  3. Add wine and vinegar, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and cook for an additional 7 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally.

Blend and serve

  1. Place onion mixture in a food processor then add the olives and black pepper. Process until smooth.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

209Calories
2 gProtein
14 gFat
14 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Olive1 large (4g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3

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.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Olive + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,948 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Green olives
Form the main body and provide the salty, briny flavour of the tapenade.
Onion
Softens and turns sweet as it cooks, adding mellow depth.
Garlic cloves
Adds a pungent aroma that mellows as it cooks.
Dried thyme
Adds an earthy, herbal aroma.
Dry white wine
Adds acidity and flavour, much of it cooking off during reduction.
White wine vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that brightens the flavour.

The step that matters

Reduce the wine and vinegar until most of the liquid evaporates. Leftover liquid would make the tapenade thin and overly sharp. Cooking it down concentrates the flavour and mellows the acidity, so the mixture blends into a thick, spreadable paste.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, thyme, garlic, white wine, vinegar, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Rosemaryfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, thyme, garlic, white wine, vinegar, 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.

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