Name: Club Sandwich
Ingredients: 2 slices of toast; 2 slices of chicken; 2 leaves of lettuce; 2 slices of bacon; mayonnaise; 1 slice of tomato

Why it works: Lettuce and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,655 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Club Sandwich

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Toast the bread until golden brown.
Cook the bacon until crisp.

Assemble

Place a lettuce leaf on one slice of toast and spread a spoonful of mayonnaise on top.
Layer a slice of chicken on the mayonnaise, followed by a slice of bacon.
Add another slice of chicken, then another slice of bacon, and top with a lettuce leaf and the second slice of toast.
Finish with a slice of ripe tomato and another spoonful of mayonnaise on top.

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.

Lettuce + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,655 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Chicken + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,031 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Chicken + lettucetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,421 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

Toast: Provides a crisp, sturdy base that holds the layers together.
Chicken: Supplies the main protein and substantial, tender bulk in each layer.
Bacon: Adds salty, savoury fat and a crisp texture that contrasts the soft layers.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and moisture, binding the layers and keeping the bread from drying out.
Tomato: Adds juicy acidity and freshness that cut through the rich fats.