Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Ox-tail Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Joint the ox-tail and cut larger pieces into two or four.
Wash the ox-tail and place it in a saucepan with water, carrot, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Boil until tender, adding meatballs during the last few minutes.
Remove the carrot and add the brown stock, simmering for another hour.
In a tureen, combine lemon juice and browning, then pour the soup over and stir well.
Season to taste, skimming carefully.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Clove + carrottop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Garlic + peppertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,090 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the garlic
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, pepper, carrot, lemon):
- Marjoramfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Garlicthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against clove, pepper, carrot, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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