Name: Peanut Salad
Ingredients: 1 stalk celery, finely chopped; ¾ cup blanched, chopped peanuts; 2 apples, finely chopped; mayonnaise dressing; crisp lettuce leaves

Why it works: Celery and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,033 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Peanut Salad

Ingredients

Directions

In a bowl, combine the chopped celery, peanuts, and apples.
Mix in the mayonnaise dressing until well combined.
Serve the mixture on crisp lettuce leaves.

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.

Celery + lettucetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,033 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Peanut + lettucetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together170 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Celery + appletop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,155 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Celery + peanuttop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together148 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Apple + lettucetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together515 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Peanuts: Add crunch and a rich, nutty flavour that contrasts with the soft apple.
Apples: Provide crisp texture and a mild sweetness that balances the dressing.
Mayonnaise dressing: Adds moisture and fat, binding the chopped ingredients together into a creamy salad.