Name: Italian Spaghetti
Ingredients: 2 sprigs garlic chopped fine; 2 cups cold water; 6 tablespoons olive oil; 1 tablespoon butter; 2 cups grated cheese; 2 cups of ripe tomatoes; 1 cup of fine bread crumbs; 1 tablespoon of grated cheese; 3 large onions chopped fine; 6 minced mushrooms; salt; pepper

Why it works: Garlic and onion 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.

Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Olive + tomatotop 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).
Garlic + mushroomtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,700 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Ripe tomatoes: Provides moisture and acidity, which become the sauce as they cook down.
Fine bread crumbs: Absorb liquid from the tomatoes and mushrooms, thickening the mixture.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, and helps the mixture brown lightly in the hot pan.
Grated cheese: Adds savory, salty flavour and helps bind the mixture as it melts.

The step that matters

Stir briskly until cooked. The mixture sits in a hot buttered pan with bread crumbs and sugar, which can scorch on the base. Constant stirring spreads heat evenly and releases moisture from the tomatoes and mushrooms, so the mixture cooks through without burning.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, olive, butter, cheese, tomato, bread, mushroom):

Capsicumfits about as well
Potatofits about as well
Spinachfits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, olive, butter, cheese, tomato, bread, mushroom. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Italian Spaghetti