Why it works: Pineapple and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,664 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓
Pineapple Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pineapple
Select a large pineapple with a straight, green top.
Strip off all the leaves, leaving the bud in the center.
Reserve twelve of the nicest leaves.
Cut off the top of the pineapple two inches down, keeping the center bud intact.
Use a fork to remove the pulp, leaving the outer wall intact to create a pineapple bowl.
Place the pineapple bowl on ice.
Prepare the fruit
Hull the strawberries and cut them in half, reserving eighteen of the largest.
Peel the oranges and cut them into ½ inch cubes.
Shred the pineapple pulp and sprinkle it with sugar.
Chill all the materials before serving.
Assemble and serve
Arrange the twelve pineapple-top leaves in a circle on a flat platter, points outward.
Set the pineapple bowl in the center.
Fill the bowl with alternate layers of pineapple, orange, and strawberries.
Mix the sherry, orange juice, and half the sugar, then pour over the fruit.
Place halved strawberries, flat side down, around the edge of the pineapple bowl.
Cover with the top of the pineapple.
Create a wreath around the bottom with the reserved strawberries and parsley.
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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Pineapple + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,664 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Pineapple + sherrytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together228 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Orange + parsleytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together680 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pineapple + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together325 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Sherry + orangetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together823 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pineapple
- Forms the edible bowl and the sweet, juicy fruit base of the salad.
- Strawberries
- Add bright flavor and a soft, juicy texture, and make the decorative edging.
- Oranges
- Add citrusy acidity and juiciness that brightens the sweet pineapple.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pineapple and draws out juice, creating a syrup with the fruit.
- Sherry wine
- Adds aromatic, fruity depth to the syrup poured over the fruit.
The step that matters
Chill all the materials before serving. Cold fruit and a cold pineapple shell keep the salad firm and fresh-tasting, and slow the breakdown of the fruit's texture and juices.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, sherry, wine, orange, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Gingerfits better
- Clovefits better
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, sherry, wine, orange, sugar. 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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