Why it works: Clove and garlic are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,368 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓
Garlic Purée
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Skin the cloves of garlic.
Cook the garlic in boiling water, changing the water every five minutes, until soft.
Add salt in the last water.
Make the purée
Pound the garlic and mix with gravy or brown sauce to make a thick purée.
Stew the garlic and gravy together for a short time.
Serve
Serve very hot.
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 + garlictop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,368 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Garlic + saucetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,007 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Clove + saucetop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,089 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Garlic
- Provides the main flavour and, once softened and pounded, forms the body of the purée.
- Gravy or brown sauce
- Adds moisture and savoury depth, and thins the pounded garlic into a spreadable purée.
The step that matters
Cooking the garlic until soft. Garlic must be simmered gently in repeated fresh water until fully tender so it pounds smoothly; changing the water reduces its harsh, sharp flavour and sulphur compounds. Undercooked cloves stay fibrous and give a coarse, pungent purée.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, sauce):
- Capersfits better
- Cuminfits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, sauce. 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.
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