Name: Bean Sandwiches
Ingredients: Brown or white bread; Butter; Baked beans; Vinegar or salad dressing

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Bean Sandwiches

Ingredients

Brown or white bread
Butter
Baked beans
Vinegar or salad dressing

Directions

Spread butter on slices of bread.
Mash the baked beans, then add a little vinegar or salad dressing to the mashed beans.
Spread the bean mixture between the slices of bread.

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Bread + beanstop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together332 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter + beanstop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,799 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Beans + vinegartop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,347 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,513 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

What each ingredient does

Bread: Provides the soft structure that holds the filling together.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, and helps keep the bread from soaking up moisture from the filling.
Baked beans: Form the main filling, providing body, savory flavor and a soft, spreadable texture.
Vinegar or salad dressing: Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and cuts the sweetness of the beans.