Name: Asparagus Salad
Ingredients: 2 oz Asparagus, finely chopped; 1 oz Lettuce or Spring Cabbage, finely chopped; ½ oz Mint, finely chopped; ½ oz Lemon Juice

Why it works: Asparagus and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 313 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus Salad

Ingredients

2 oz Asparagus, finely chopped
1 oz Lettuce or Spring Cabbage, finely chopped
½ oz Mint, finely chopped
½ oz Lemon Juice

Directions

Toss together the chopped asparagus, lettuce or cabbage, and mint.
Add the lemon juice and mix well.
Serve in a cabbage leaf.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Asparagus + lettucetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together313 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Mint + lemontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,998 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Asparagus + lemontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together704 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Lettuce + minttop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together569 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Lettuce + lemontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,559 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

Asparagus: Provides the main body and tender-crisp texture of the salad.
Lettuce or spring cabbage: Adds crisp, leafy bulk and serves as the edible cup for serving.
Mint: Adds a fresh aroma that complements the vegetables.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the vegetables.