Name: Maryland Canape
Ingredients: 1 slice of pineapple; 1 slice of peeled and chilled tomato; thin slices of banana; 1 large cherry or strawberry, quartered; heart lettuce leaves; French Dressing No. 2

Why it works: Pineapple and banana match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 733 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Maryland Canape

Ingredients

1 slice of pineapple
1 slice of peeled and chilled tomato
thin slices of banana
1 large cherry or strawberry, quartered
heart lettuce leaves
French Dressing No. 2

Directions

Place the slice of pineapple on the slice of tomato.
Arrange the banana slices overlapping on top of the pineapple.
Fill the center with the quartered cherry or strawberry.
Surround the canape with heart lettuce leaves.
Serve with French Dressing No. 2.

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 + bananatop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together733 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Pineapple + cherrytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together537 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Tomato + cherrytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,113 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Banana + cherrytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together187 recipes

Shared aroma: n-butyl acetate (pear, banana).
Cherry + lettucetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together242 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Pineapple: Provides a sweet, juicy base layer that contrasts with the tomato's acidity.
Tomato: Forms the firm base slice that holds the other layers together.
Banana: Adds soft, mild sweetness and a creamy texture to the layers.
Cherry or strawberry: Adds bright fruit flavour and colour at the centre of the canapé.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, banana, cherry, lettuce):

Beetrootfits better
Capsicumfits better
Cucumberfits better
Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, banana, cherry, lettuce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.