Why it works: Olive and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,922 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Stuffed Olives
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the stones from the olives using a corer.
Make the filling
In a bowl, mix the egg yolks, butter, lemon juice, and anchovy paste until smooth.
Fill and serve
Fill each olive with the mixture.
Top each olive with a caper.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes to harden before serving.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
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.
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Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,922 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Olive + anchovytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together880 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
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Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,330 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Olive + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,887 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Bind the filling and give it a smooth, rich texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a creamy, spreadable filling that firms when chilled.
- Anchovy paste
- Adds a salty, savoury depth to the filling.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich filling.
The step that matters
Chilling the filled olives. The butter in the filling is solid when cold and soft when warm, so chilling for 30 minutes lets the filling set firm enough to hold its shape in the olives.
“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.
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