Name: Spanish Salad
Ingredients: 2 cups of bread bits; 2 cups of finely chopped olives; 1 cup of chopped cucumber pickles; mayonnaise dressing

Why it works: Olive and cucumber match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,611 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyl acetate, which smells fruit. The science ↓

Spanish Salad

Ingredients

2 cups of bread bits
2 cups of finely chopped olives
1 cup of chopped cucumber pickles
mayonnaise dressing

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the bread bits, chopped olives, and cucumber pickles.
Add mayonnaise dressing to taste and mix well.
Serve chilled.

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.

Olive + cucumbertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Bread + olivetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,091 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Bread + cucumbertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together344 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Bread bits: Provide the bulk and chewy texture that soaks up the dressing.
Olives: Add salty, briny flavor that cuts through the richness of the dressing.
Cucumber pickles: Contribute crisp texture and tangy acidity.
Mayonnaise dressing: Adds moisture and fat, binding the salad and coating the other ingredients.