Why it works: Apple and grape match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,659 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓
Apple Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Polish the apples and cut off a slice from the top.
Remove the inside of the apples.
Prepare a salad with celery, chopped nuts, and chopped apple, then mix with mayonnaise dressing.
Fill the apples with the salad mixture.
Top each apple with a white grape and a candied cherry.
Serve on a lettuce leaf.
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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Apple + grapetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,659 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Celery + lettucetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,033 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Nuts + lettucetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together174 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Apple + celerytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,155 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Grape + lettucetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together349 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 nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, celery, grape, lettuce):
- Walnutfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Chickpeafits better
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, celery, grape, lettuce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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