Why it works: Pineapple and peach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 168 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Fruit Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Make the gelatine base
Dissolve gelatine in a little cold water.
Add ½ cup boiling water and stir until dissolved.
Set and serve
Add fruit and fruit juices.
Put on ice to congeal.
Serve on lettuce with mayonnaise or whipped cream.
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.
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Pineapple + peachtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together168 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatine
- Sets the fruit juices into a firm, sliceable gel as it chills.
- Pineapple
- Adds fruit pieces and juice that flavour the gel.
- Peaches
- Adds soft fruit pieces and juice that flavour the gel.
- Maraschino cherries
- Add sweetness and a bright colour to the salad.
The step that matters
Dissolving the gelatine fully. Gelatine only sets when it is completely dissolved in hot liquid. Undissolved granules leave grainy spots and weak patches, so stir until no granules remain before adding the fruit and juices.
“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.
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