Name: Orange and Spanish Pepper Salad
Ingredients: 2 oranges; 1 Spanish pepper; French dressing; Lettuce leaves

Why it works: Pepper and lettuce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,037 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Orange and Spanish Pepper Salad

Ingredients

2 oranges
1 Spanish pepper
French dressing
Lettuce leaves

Directions

Prepare

Peel and slice the oranges.
Cut the Spanish pepper into shreds.

Assemble and serve

Mix the oranges and Spanish pepper with French dressing.
Serve on lettuce leaves.

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.

Pepper + lettucetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,037 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Orange + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,402 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Orange + lettucetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together373 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

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

What each ingredient does

Oranges: Provide sweetness, juiciness and a bright citrus flavour that balances the sharp dressing.
Spanish pepper: Adds crisp texture and a fresh, slightly bitter vegetable flavour.
French dressing: Adds acidity and oil that moisten the salad and carry its flavour.