Name: Baked-bean Salad
Ingredients: 1 pint cold baked or boiled beans; ¼ teaspoon pepper; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt; 2 tablespoons oil; 3 tablespoons vinegar; 1 teaspoon sugar

Why it works: Beans and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,733 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Baked-bean Salad

Ingredients

Directions

In a bowl, combine the beans, pepper, coarse sea salt, oil, vinegar, and sugar. Toss gently to mix all ingredients well.
Serve chilled.

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.

Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,733 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Beans + vinegartop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,347 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Beans + sugartop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,587 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Baked or boiled beans: Form the bulk of the salad and provide its main texture.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the sugar and oil.
Oil: Adds fat that carries flavour and gives the dressing a smooth mouthfeel.
Sugar: Adds a touch of sweetness that rounds out the vinegar's sharpness.