Why it works: White wine and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,776 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Lettuce Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Dress the salad with oil.
In a bowl, mix white wine vinegar, pepper, and salt.
Gently toss the lettuce in the vinegar mixture, ensuring you do not add too much sauce.
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.
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White wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,776 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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White wine + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oil
- Adds fat and a smooth coating that carries flavour across the leaves.
- White wine vinegar
- Provides acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Gently toss the lettuce in the vinegar mixture. Salt and acid in the dressing draw water out of delicate leaves, so wilting and sogginess set in quickly. Using only a light coating and tossing gently keeps the leaves crisp and stops excess sauce from pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
“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.
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