Name: Shallot-Lemon Confit
Ingredients: 1 pound small or medium shallots, peeled; ¼ cup vegetable oil; 12 coriander seeds; 6 whole black peppercorns; 2 garlic cloves, halved; zest of 4 lemons, julienned; juice of 2 lemons; 1 celery rib, finely chopped; 1 bay leaf; 1 thyme sprig; 1 parsley sprig; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 large scallion, julienned; salt

Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. 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.

Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,057 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,037 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,973 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,737 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,476 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Shallots: Become very tender and sweet as they simmer slowly in the oil and sugar.
Vegetable oil: Carries the aromatics and cooks the shallots gently, keeping them moist and rich.
Sugar: Adds a little sweetness that balances the acidity of the lemon.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the sweet, rich shallots.

The step that matters

Simmer gently until very tender. Over moderately low heat the shallots soften slowly and evenly. Higher heat can scorch the sugar and break the shallots down unevenly before their centers become tender.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shallot, coriander, garlic, lemon, celery, thyme, parsley):

Marjoramfits better
Tarragonfits better
Winter savoryfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shallot, coriander, garlic, lemon, celery, thyme, parsley. 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
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Coriander	not in our table	0
Seed	not in our table	0

Shallot-Lemon Confit