Name: Orange and Apple Salad
Ingredients: 1 Apple; 2 Oranges; Lettuce leaves; 2 tablespoons Ground Nuts; Salad Dressing

Why it works: Apple and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,230 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Orange and Apple Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Cut the apple and oranges into small pieces.
Serve on a lettuce leaf.
Top with ground nuts and drizzle with salad dressing.

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 + orangetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,230 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lettuce + nutstop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together174 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Orange + lettucetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together373 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Apple + lettucetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together515 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Orange + nutstop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together280 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Apple: Adds crisp texture and a fresh, mildly sweet flavour to the salad.
Oranges: Add juicy sweetness and a bright, citrus acidity that balances the dressing.
Ground nuts: Add crunch and a toasty, nutty flavour against the soft fruit.