Name: Duck and Orange Salad
Ingredients: Chicory or celery leaves; Celery stalks, sliced into ¼-inch pieces; Cold roast duck, sliced; Sour oranges, peeled and sliced; ¼ teaspoon salt; Dash of pepper; ½ cup oil

Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Duck and Orange Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Arrange the salad

Arrange a bed of chicory or celery leaves on a salad dish.
Lay sliced cold roast duck down the center.
On each side, arrange slices of peeled sour orange.
Garnish the ends of the dish with shreds of orange peel.

Dress and serve

In a bowl, mix salt, pepper, and oil.
Pour the dressing over the salad, mix gently, and serve.

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.

Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Chicory + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together37 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Chicory + orangetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Orange + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,402 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Celery + orangetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together452 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cold roast duck: Provides the main protein and rich flavor at the center of the salad.
Sour oranges: Add acidity and fresh citrus aroma that cut through the richness of the duck.
Oil: Carries the seasoning and coats the leaves and fruit with a light, glossy dressing.
Chicory or celery leaves: Form a crisp, fresh bed that holds the other ingredients and adds bitter-green contrast.