Name: Lima Bean Loaf
Ingredients: 1 can lima beans; 1 can tomatoes; 1 tablespoon parsley; 1 tablespoon minced onion; 1 well beaten egg; 1 cup bread crumbs; salt to taste; pepper to taste

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Lima Bean Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the loaf

In a mixing bowl, combine the lima beans, tomatoes, parsley, minced onion, beaten egg, and bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until heated through.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,398 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Lima beans + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together131 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Lima beans: Form the bulk of the loaf and give it a soft, hearty texture.
Tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity that keep the loaf from drying out.
Well beaten egg: Binds the mixture so it holds together when sliced.
Bread crumbs: Absorb liquid and help the loaf set with a tender structure.

Swap the lima beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, parsley, onion, egg, bread, pepper):

Beansfits better
Chickpeafits better
Lentilsfits better
Lima beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, parsley, onion, egg, bread, pepper. 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.