Name: Grilled Skirt Steak with Caramelized Butter and Cumin Recipe
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients: 4 cups canned diced tomatoes, drained (28 ounces); 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 teaspoons chopped garlic (about 2 cloves); Salt and freshly ground pepper; 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon butter; 4 long, thin, green sweet or hot peppers, or 2 green bell peppers; 4 teaspoons ground cumin; 2 teaspoons dried oregano; 1 teaspoon ground Aleppo chiles or medium-hot paprika; 3 pounds skirt steak, trimmed of fat and any silver skin, and cut into 6- to 8-inch-long pieces; 1 tablespoon canola oil; 2 large pita breads, cut in half; Plain Greek or other whole-milk yogurt, for garnish

Why it works: Cumin and oregano match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Cumin + oreganotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together983 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,767 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,756 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 clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, olive, garlic, pepper, butter, cumin, oregano):

Thymefits better
Basilfits better
Corianderfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, olive, garlic, pepper, butter, cumin, oregano. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Pita Bread	1 slice (30g) white	79
Green Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Grilled Skirt Steak with Caramelized Butter and Cumin Recipe