Cheese Salad

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.

1. Brazil nut + lettucetop 2% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together12 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

2. Celery + lettucetop 4% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together2,033 recipes

   Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

3. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together16,012 recipes

   Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

4. Pepper + lettucetop 9% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together4,037 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

5. Celery + brazil nuttop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together13 recipes

   Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Blue label cheese

Adds rich, savoury flavour and fat to the salad.

Celery

Adds crisp texture and fresh, mild flavour.

Brazil nuts

Add crunch and a rich, oily flavour.

Green pepper

Adds crisp texture and a fresh, slightly sharp taste.

Mayonnaise dressing

Adds moisture and richness and binds the chopped ingredients together.

Swap the brazil nut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, celery, pepper, lettuce):

1. Beansfits better
2. Walnutfits better
3. Chickpeafits better
4. Brazil nutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, celery, pepper, lettuce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.