Name: Pineapple Salad
Ingredients: 4 slices whole pineapple; 4 oranges; ½ cup celery, cut into 2-inch lengths; 1 cup mayonnaise; 1½ cups chopped nut meats

Why it works: Pineapple and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,664 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Pineapple Salad

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

Place a slice of pineapple on a lettuce leaf.
Fill the center of the pineapple with celery and chopped nut meats rolled in mayonnaise.
Arrange four sections of orange symmetrically on the pineapple, leaving the celery in the center.
Top each serving with 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise.

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.

Pineapple + orangetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,664 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Orange + celerytop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together452 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pineapple + celerytop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together230 recipes

Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
Celery + meattop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,880 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Orange + meattop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together449 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Pineapple: Provides sweetness and juice, with a base that holds the salad.
Oranges: Add bright acidity and sweetness that balance the richness of the mayonnaise.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and moisture, coating the celery and nuts and binding them together.
Nut meats: Add crunch and a toasty, nutty flavor against the soft fruit.
Celery: Adds crisp, fresh texture in the center of the salad.