Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Stewed Ox-Tail
Ingredients
Directions
Divide the ox-tail at the joints.
Place it in a stewpan and cover with cold water.
Bring to a boil, then strain.
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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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Carrot + allspicetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,021 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, carrot, turnip, mushroom, ketchup, clove, allspice):
- Shallotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, carrot, turnip, mushroom, ketchup, clove, allspice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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