Why it works: Lettuce and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,356 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Summer Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Place a little salad dressing at the bottom of a salad bowl.
Add the shredded lettuce, mustard, cress, radishes, and cucumber.
Toss well to mix and serve.
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 + mustardtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,356 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lettuce + cucumbertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,409 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Radish + cucumbertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together212 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Mustard + radishtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together297 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lettuce + radishtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together58 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lettuce
- Forms the leafy base and provides crisp, watery texture.
- Mustard and cress
- Adds a peppery, sharp flavor and fresh green bulk.
- Radishes
- Contribute crunch and a sharp, peppery bite.
- Cucumber
- Adds cool, moist crunch and a mild freshness.
Swap the radish
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lettuce, mustard, cucumber):
- Beetrootfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Broccolifits about as well
- Radishthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lettuce, mustard, cucumber. 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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