Name: Cinnamon-braised Chicken
Ingredients: Chicken pieces (one per person); 2 large onions , finely chopped; 4 cloves garlic , finely chopped; 1 tin tomatoes , or 300 g of fresh tomatoes; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 1 cinnamon stick; 3 bay leaves; ½ tablespoon finely- chopped fresh parsley; ½ cup red wine (shiraz); 3 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 carrot , cut into thick slices; 1 stick of celery , cut into thin 3- inch strips; Finely-chopped celery leaves; ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. 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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken pieces: Provides the main protein, which becomes tender and flavourful as it braises slowly in the sauce.
Onions: Browning them gently builds sweetness and savoury depth into the base of the sauce.
Tomatoes: Supply acidity and body, forming the bulk of the braising sauce.
Red wine: Adds acidity and aroma while deglazing and flavouring the braising liquid.
Tomato paste: Concentrates tomato flavour and adds colour and thickness to the sauce.
Olive oil: Carries heat for browning and adds fat that carries flavour through the dish.

The step that matters

Cook over a low heat so the sauce does not catch. Long slow simmering breaks down collagen in the chicken and keeps the tomato-rich sauce from scorching on the base of the pot, which would taste bitter.

Swap the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, onion, clove, garlic, tomato, olive, parsley):

Thymefits better
Cuminfits better
Basilfits better
Cinnamonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, onion, clove, garlic, tomato, olive, 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
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cloves	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1

Cinnamon-braised Chicken