Name: Reunion Frittata
Ingredients: ½ cup chopped apple wood smoked bacon; 1 onion chopped; 2 garlic cloves very finely chopped; 8 large eggs; 1 cup diced red bell peppers; 2 cups sliced crookneck squash; ½ cup shaved asiago cheese; 2 teaspoons finely chopped thyme leaves; ¼ teaspoon sea salt; 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

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).
Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,608 recipes

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

Eggs: Set into the custard-like body that holds the frittata together.
Asiago cheese: Melts and browns on top, adding salty, savoury flavour.
Apple wood smoked bacon: Adds smoky, savoury fat and flavour to the base.
Crookneck squash: Adds tender body and moisture to the vegetable mix.
Red bell peppers: Add sweetness and colour to the vegetable mixture.

The step that matters

Broiling the top. Eggs set and cheese browns very quickly under a broiler. Too close to the heat or too long can scorch the cheese and overcook the eggs, leaving the frittata dry and rubbery.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, clove, egg, pepper, cheese, thyme):

Limefits better
Lemonfits better
Avocadofits better
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, clove, egg, pepper, cheese, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Red Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Wood	not in our table	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0

Reunion Frittata