Name: Shell Fish
Ingredients: vinegar; coarse sea salt; white pepper; cayenne pepper; oil

Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Shell Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Mix vinegar, coarse sea salt, white pepper, and cayenne pepper in a bowl.
Pour the mixture into the large shell.
Serve with a drizzle of oil if desired.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
White pepper + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,478 recipes

Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
Vinegar + white peppertop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,154 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).