Name: Asparagus Luncheon Salad
Ingredients: 2 cups cooked asparagus; 2 hard-cooked eggs, diced; 2 cups shredded lettuce; 1 teaspoon vinegar; 1 tablespoon olive oil; boiled salad dressing; lettuce leaves or cress for serving

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 Luncheon Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Make the salad

Mix the asparagus and shredded lettuce with the olive oil and vinegar.
Add boiled dressing to moisten thoroughly.
Chill the mixture and arrange it in nests of salad greens.

Garnish and serve

Garnish with the diced hard-cooked eggs and additional dressing.

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).
Lettuce + olivetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,580 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Asparagus + olivetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,096 recipes

Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Vinegar + olivetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Lettuce + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,370 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Asparagus: Provides the main body and tender texture of the salad.
Shredded lettuce: Adds crisp, watery bulk that gives the salad its fresh texture.
Hard-cooked eggs: Add richness and a soft, creamy contrast to the crisp vegetables.
Boiled salad dressing: Moistens the salad and adds creamy richness throughout.
Olive oil: Coats the vegetables, adding fat and a smoother mouthfeel.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the vegetables and dressing.