Name: Italian Spaghetti
Ingredients: 1 cup of mushrooms; 2 tablespoons of butter; 1 cup of cold; 1 tablespoon each of salt; one cup of milk; 1 tablespoon corn- starch in half a cup of cold water; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 tablespoon melted butter; a cup of bread crumbs; a pinch of pepper; a slice of bacon on each one; a cup of water; a cup of cold water; 1 onion; 2 cloves; 6 vegetables; 8 large; 1 green pepper chopped fine; 8 small tomatoes; 1 egg; 5 tomatoes; salt; pepper

Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. 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.

Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,525 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Mushroom + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes: Provide the juice that forms the body and tangy base of the sauce.
Butter: Adds richness and flavour to the sauce and greases the pan.
Mushrooms: Add savoury flavour and moisture to the sauce.
Corn starch: Thickens the tomato sauce as it heats.

The step that matters

Thickening the tomato sauce. Corn starch should be mixed smoothly with cold water before it goes into the sauce, because dry starch clumps. Starch thickens only when the liquid is hot and stirred, so the sauce must be heated long enough for it to set.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, butter, milk, corn, bread, pepper, clove):

Capsicumfits better
Potatofits better
Tomatofits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, butter, milk, corn, bread, pepper, clove. 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
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Italian Spaghetti