Name: Balsamic, Maple and Molasses-dipped Roast Lamb
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: splash olive oil; 1 red onion; 3 garlic; ½ (75cl) bottle red wine; 100ml/3½fl oz balsamic vinegar; 1 tbsp butter; 3 tbsp honey; 1 tbsp molasses; 3 tbsp maple syrup; small handful rosemary; small handful thyme; 3 garlic; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; splash olive oil; 1 x 2kg/4lb 6oz leg of lamb; 1-2 sprigs rosemary; 1-2 sprigs thyme; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; splash olive oil; ½ onion; all the lamb; ½ (75cl) bottle red wine; , if needed lamb stock; knob butter; 1 tsp flour

Why it works: Onion and garlic 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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Olive + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,779 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Red wine + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together575 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

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 (olive, garlic, red wine, vinegar, butter, honey, molasses):

Tomatofits better
Mustardfits about as well
Capsicumfits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, garlic, red wine, vinegar, butter, honey, molasses. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Lamb	100g cooked	294
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Honey	1 tbsp (21g)	64
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Maple Syrup	1 tbsp (20ml)	52
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Rosemary	1 tsp dried (1.2g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Balsamic, Maple and Molasses-dipped Roast Lamb