Name: Cypriot Salad
Ingredients: 1 tomato; 1 cucumber; 3 leaves of lettuce; 1 small onion; 1 spoon of feta cheese , cut into small pieces; 5–6 black olives; 3 spoons of olive oil; 2 spoons of lemon juice

Why it works: Cucumber and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,409 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cypriot Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Cut the vegetables into pieces.

Assemble and serve

Put them in a bowl and decorate them with onions, feta cheese and olives. If you want you can decorate your bowl with every way!
Before serving, add olive oil and lemon and shake.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

335Calories

11 gProtein

24 gFat

24 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Feta Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Olive	1 large (4g)	4

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Cucumber + lettucetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,409 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Tomato + cucumbertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,405 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Lettuce + olivetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,580 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Cucumber + olivetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,611 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

Tomato: Adds juiciness and fresh acidity that brightens the salad.
Cucumber: Adds crisp, watery moisture and a cool, refreshing texture.
Feta cheese: Adds salty, tangy richness that contrasts with the fresh vegetables.
Olive oil: Adds fat and smoothness, carrying flavor across the salad.
Lemon juice: Adds bright acidity that balances the oil and salt.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, cucumber, lettuce, onion, feta cheese, olive):

Avocadofits better
Cherryfits better
Limefits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, cucumber, lettuce, onion, feta cheese, olive. 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.