Name: French Cherry Dressing
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon pepper; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 teaspoons vinegar; 2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice; mashed maraschino cherries

Why it works: Olive and cherry match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,889 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyl acetate, which smells fruit. The science ↓

French Cherry Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

In a soup plate, mix salt, pepper, olive oil, and vinegar.
Add maraschino cherry juice and a few mashed cherries.
Stir thoroughly before pouring over lettuce.

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.

Olive + cherrytop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,889 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Pepper + cherrytop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,336 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,263 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Vinegar + cherrytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together767 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

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

What each ingredient does

Olive oil: Forms the base of the dressing and carries its body and mouthfeel.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that balances the oil and sweetness of the cherries.
Maraschino cherries: Provide fruity sweetness and flavor, along with color and texture from the mashed pieces.