Name: Caribbean Marinade
Ingredients: ¼ cup lime juice; ¼ cup orange juice; 2 tbsp cider vinegar; 1 crushed garlic clove; ½ tsp ground allspice; ½ tsp crushed thyme; ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Caribbean Marinade

Ingredients

Directions

Combine ingredients in a shallow dish.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

104Calories

2 gProtein

1 gFat

25 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Cider	not in our table	0

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.

Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,874 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,077 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lime + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together305 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Lime + allspicetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together147 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

Lime juice: Adds acidity that helps tenderise and brighten the meat's surface.
Cider vinegar: Adds acidity that helps tenderise the surface of the food and sharpens flavour.
Orange juice: Adds sweetness and acidity, adding fruity flavour to the marinade.
Garlic: Adds pungent aroma and savoury flavour.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lime, orange, cider, vinegar, clove, allspice, thyme):

Marjoramfits better
Cinnamonfits better
Cardamomfits better
Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lime, orange, cider, vinegar, clove, allspice, thyme. 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.