Name: Sandwich Filling
Ingredients: 1 cup deviled ham, tongue, or chicken; 1 cup seeded raisins; 2 teaspoons orange extract; mayonnaise dressing (to make a paste)

Why it works: Raisin and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,684 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Sandwich Filling

Ingredients

1 cup deviled ham, tongue, or chicken
1 cup seeded raisins
2 teaspoons orange extract
mayonnaise dressing (to make a paste)

Directions

Combine deviled ham, tongue, or chicken with seeded raisins in a bowl.
Add orange extract and mix well.
Stir in enough mayonnaise dressing to create a paste.

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.

Raisin + orangetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,684 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ham + orangetop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together115 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ham + raisintop 40% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together13 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Deviled ham, tongue, or chicken: Provides the savory meat base and most of the filling's body.
Seeded raisins: Adds sweetness and chewy texture that contrasts with the meat.
Orange extract: Adds a citrus aroma that brightens the savory filling.
Mayonnaise dressing: Binds the ingredients into a spreadable paste and adds moisture and richness.