Name: Apple Salad
Ingredients: 4 large tart apples; 1 pound white grapes, seeded and halved; ½ pound shelled pecans, broken into small pieces; mayonnaise dressing; white part of endive

Why it works: Apple and grape match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,659 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Apple Salad

Ingredients

4 large tart apples
1 pound white grapes, seeded and halved
½ pound shelled pecans, broken into small pieces
mayonnaise dressing
white part of endive

Directions

Prepare

Peel and core the apples.
Seed and cut the grapes in half.

Assemble and serve

Combine the apples, grapes, and pecans in a bowl.
Mix with mayonnaise dressing.
Garnish with the white part of endive.

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.

Apple + grapetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,659 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Pecans + endivetop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together18 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Grape + pecanstop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together552 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Apple + pecanstop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together391 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Apple + endivetop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Apples: Provides crisp texture and tart flavor that balances the sweet grapes and rich dressing.
Grapes: Adds sweetness and juiciness that lightens the richness of the dressing.
Pecans: Adds crunch and buttery richness that contrasts with the soft fruit.
Mayonnaise dressing: Adds moisture and creamy richness that binds the fruit and nuts together.