Name: Chopped Ham Sandwiches
Ingredients: 1 cup chopped cold ham; 2 cold boiled eggs, chopped; 1 large cucumber pickle, chopped; Mayonnaise dressing, to taste; Thin slices of buttered bread, crusts removed; Lettuce leaves

Why it works: Cucumber and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,409 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Chopped Ham Sandwiches

Ingredients

1 cup chopped cold ham
2 cold boiled eggs, chopped
1 large cucumber pickle, chopped
Mayonnaise dressing, to taste
Thin slices of buttered bread, crusts removed
Lettuce leaves

Directions

In a bowl, combine the chopped ham, boiled eggs, cucumber pickle, and enough mayonnaise dressing to create a thick paste.
Spread the mixture between slices of buttered bread.
Place a lettuce leaf between the bread, allowing it to extend beyond the edges.
Press the top slice of bread down and trim the lettuce with scissors for an even appearance.

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.

Cucumber + lettucetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,409 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Bread + lettucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together602 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Cucumber + breadtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together344 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Boiled eggs: Provide the main filling body and soft, creamy texture.
Mayonnaise dressing: Binds the chopped ingredients into a thick, spreadable paste and adds moisture.
Cold ham: Supplies the savoury, salty flavour and chewy bite of the filling.
Cucumber pickle: Adds tangy acidity and crunch that contrasts with the rich filling.