Name: Italian Garlic Shrimp
Ingredients: 8 cloves garlic, finely minced; 2 tbsp. olive oil; 1 cup dry white wine; 4 whole cloves; 2 fresh bay leaves; 1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and de-veined; 1 tsp. Dijon mustard; Salt and pepper; 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce; 2 tbsp. chopped parsley; 2 cups cooked pasta of choice

Why it works: Garlic and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25,665 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. 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.

Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,053 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Olive + mustardtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,950 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Garlic + peppertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 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

Garlic: Browns in oil to give the sauce its aromatic, savory base flavor.
Dry white wine: Reduces into a concentrated liquid that becomes the flavorful sauce coating the pasta.
Shrimp: Provide the main protein, cooking quickly to a tender texture in the sauce.
Olive oil: Carries the garlic flavor and helps it brown evenly in the skillet.
Dijon mustard: Adds a sharp, tangy note that balances the richness of the sauce.

The step that matters

Cook the shrimp just until tender. Shrimp protein tightens quickly when overcooked, turning rubbery. Removing them as soon as they turn opaque and firm keeps them tender.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, olive, white wine, shrimp, mustard, pepper, sauce):

Capersfits better
Thymefits better
Tarragonfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, olive, white wine, shrimp, mustard, pepper, sauce. 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
Pasta	1 cup cooked (140g)	220
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Italian Garlic Shrimp