Name: Asparagus Salad, Garnished with Eggs
Ingredients: 1 bunch cooked asparagus; 1 head lettuce; French dressing; 2 hard-boiled eggs

Why it works: Asparagus and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 313 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus Salad, Garnished with Eggs

Ingredients

1 bunch cooked asparagus
1 head lettuce
French dressing
2 hard-boiled eggs

Directions

Place the cooked asparagus on a bed of lettuce.
Cover the asparagus with French dressing.
Press the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs through a potato ricer and sprinkle over the center.
Cut the egg whites into rings and arrange them around the outside.

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.

Asparagus + lettucetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together313 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Asparagus + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,338 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lettuce + eggtop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,301 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

Eggs: Hard-boiled eggs supply the yolk topping and sliced white rings for contrast in color and texture.
Asparagus: Cooked asparagus forms the main body of the salad, providing its tender, vegetal texture.
Lettuce: Lettuce forms a crisp bed that holds the asparagus and adds a fresh, watery crunch.
French dressing: French dressing coats the asparagus, adding acidity and sweetness that balance its mild flavor.