Name: Cocoanut Salad
Ingredients: ½ coconut, grated; 2 large Jonathan apples, peeled, cored, and diced; 2 stalks celery, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons sweet onions, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped; 3 chili peppers

Why it works: Celery and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,810 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Cocoanut Salad

Ingredients

½ coconut, grated
2 large Jonathan apples, peeled, cored, and diced
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 tablespoons sweet onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
3 chili peppers

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the grated coconut, diced apples, chopped celery, chopped onions, chopped parsley, and chili peppers.
Mix well and cover with a good French dressing.
Serve in cucumber boats or tomato shells.

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 + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,810 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Coconut: Adds bulk, chewy texture and a mild sweetness to the salad.
Apples: Contribute crisp texture and natural sweetness that balances the savory ingredients.
Celery: Adds crunch and a fresh, slightly vegetal flavor.
Sweet onions: Provide sharp aromatic flavor that mellows slightly when mixed with dressing.
Chili peppers: Add heat and a sharp, bright note to the salad.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (coconut, celery, onion, parsley, pepper):

Limefits better
Lemonfits better
Avocadofits better
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against coconut, celery, onion, parsley, pepper. 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.