Name: Fruit Salad
Ingredients: 1 round of pineapple; 1 lettuce leaf; red bar le due (or similar fruit); Neufchatel cheese or cream cheese; sweetened boiled dressing; whipped cream

Why it works: Pineapple and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 271 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Fruit Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Place the round of pineapple on a lettuce leaf.
Fill the center of the pineapple with red bar le due.
Dice the Neufchatel or cream cheese and arrange it around the edge of the pineapple.
Serve with sweetened boiled dressing mixed with whipped cream.

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 + lettucetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together271 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Pineapple + cheesetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together128 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Cheese + creamtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,655 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Lettuce + cheesetop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together614 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pineapple + creamtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,574 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

Pineapple: Forms the edible base and serving vessel, adding juicy sweetness and fruity flavour.
Neufchatel or cream cheese: Adds richness and a creamy, mild tang that contrasts with the sweet fruit.
Sweetened boiled dressing: Provides a sweet, tangy, custard-like coating that moistens the fruit.
Whipped cream: Lightens the dressing, adding airy texture and a softer richness.