Name: Recipe Flash: Old Bay Cod Cakes with Pickled RadishesOld Bay Cod Cakes with Pickled RadishesSpicy, Quick-Pickled Radishes
Yield: Makes 6 cakes; Serves 3 for dinner or 6 as appetizersMakes about 1 cup
Ingredients: 1/3 cup white wine; 2 large sprigs parsley; 1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns; 1 pound cod; 4-5 tablespoons olive oil; Kosher salt; Freshly ground pepper; 1/2 red onion, diced; 1 clove garlic, minced; 1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish; 1 teaspoon old bay; 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika; 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste; 1/4 cup panko; 1/4 cup mayonaise; 1/2 cup flour; 1/4 cup Spicy Quick-Pickled Radishes (recipe follows); 1 cup trimmed, thinly sliced radishes; 1 scallion, white and green parts thinly sliced; 1 dried red chile pepper; 1/2 cup red wine vinegar; 1/2 cup sugar; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

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).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Parsley + garlictop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,308 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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 (white wine, parsley, olive, pepper, onion, garlic, flour):

Thymefits better
Marjoramfits better
Cuminfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, parsley, olive, pepper, onion, garlic, flour. 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
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
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
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Recipe Flash: Old Bay Cod Cakes with Pickled RadishesOld Bay Cod Cakes with Pickled RadishesSpicy, Quick-Pickled Radishes