Why it works: Bulgur and cinnamon work together. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 29 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Bring a pan of boiling water to a boil, add the bulgur and butter, cover, and simmer on low for about 10 minutes until the bulgur is tender and the water is absorbed.
Stir in the cinnamon, remove the pan from the heat, keep it covered for 2 minutes, then fluff the bulgur with a fork and let it cool slightly.
Zest the lemon, then juice it. In a bowl, combine the chopped peaches, chopped mint and lemon zest.
In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice with the olive oil, and crumble the oregano between your fingers into the dressing.
Add the bulgur to the peach mixture, pour over the dressing and toss gently until evenly combined.
Fold in the feta crumbles just before serving so they stay intact, then serve the salad at room temperature or chilled.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Bulgur + cinnamontop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together29 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mint + lemontop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,998 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + oreganotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together784 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Mint + oreganotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together143 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Olive + oreganotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,288 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the peach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bulgur, butter, cinnamon, mint, lemon, olive, oregano):
- Limebetter flavor fit
- Orangebetter flavor fit
- Cherrybetter flavor fit
- Peachthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bulgur, butter, cinnamon, mint, lemon, olive, oregano. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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