Why it works: Lettuce and peas 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 ↓
Pineapple Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the top off the pineapple about 1 inch deep and scoop out the inside.
Combine diced pineapple, halved cherries, and halved strawberries in a bowl.
If using mayonnaise, mix it with whipped cream.
Serve the salad in the hollowed pineapple, surrounded by lettuce leaves and sweet peas.
Chill the salad and fill the pineapple just before serving.
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.
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Lettuce + peastop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,293 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Pineapple + lettucetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together271 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Pineapple + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together325 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Pineapple + peastop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together54 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
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Wine + peastop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, wine, cream, lettuce):
- Chestnutfits better
- Pistachiofits better
- Beansfits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, wine, cream, lettuce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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