Why it works: Cream and gelatin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,628 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Pineapple-cherry Salad
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, oil, and lemon juice.
Add mayonnaise, whipped cream, and beaten egg whites to the mixture.
Soak the gelatin in 1 quart of cold water, then dissolve it in boiling water.
Once the gelatin has cooled but not congealed, blend it with the mayonnaise mixture.
Fold in the white cherries, chopped pineapple, marshmallows, and chopped almonds.
Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
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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Cream + gelatintop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,628 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Pineapple + almondtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together428 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Lemon + pineappletop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cream + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cream, gelatin, pineapple, almond):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cream, gelatin, pineapple, almond. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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