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Salad

Pea, Cheese and Nut Salad

A salad of peas, grated cheese, nuts, and dressing served over lettuce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Peas and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,293 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Pea, Cheese and Nut Salad

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine the peas with grated cheese and chopped nuts, then mix with salad dressing.

  2. Serve on a bed of lettuce.

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.

  1. Peas + lettucetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,293 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Nuts + lettucetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together174 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  3. Cheese + lettucetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together614 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Peas + cheesetop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together313 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Cheese + nutstop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together101 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl decanoate (grape, waxy).

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

What each ingredient does

Peas
Provide the main bulk and a mild, sweet, tender body to the salad.
Grated cheese
Adds savory flavor and a rich, slightly salty note that stands out against the peas.
Chopped nuts
Contribute crunch and a toasty, nutty aroma that contrasts with the soft peas.
Salad dressing
Adds moisture and acidity that bind the ingredients and carry the flavor.
Lettuce
Forms a crisp, fresh base that holds the salad and adds a light texture.

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, cheese, lettuce):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Lentilsfits better
  3. Chickpeafits better
  4. Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against peas, cheese, lettuce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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