Name: Fruit Salad
Ingredients: 1 large banana, cut into small pieces; 1 cup green grapes, cut into small pieces; 1 large orange, cut into small pieces; 1½ cups nut meats

Why it works: Banana and grape work together. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 496 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Fruit Salad

Ingredients

1 large banana, cut into small pieces
1 cup green grapes, cut into small pieces
1 large orange, cut into small pieces
1½ cups nut meats

Directions

Combine the banana, green grapes, orange, and nut meats in a bowl. Mix all ingredients together thoroughly.
Serve with your choice of dressing.

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.

Banana + grapetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together496 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Grape + orangetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,771 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Banana + orangetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,118 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Grape + meattop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together371 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Orange + meattop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together449 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Banana: Adds natural sweetness and a soft, creamy texture to the salad.
Green grapes: Add juicy moisture and a bright, sweet-tart flavor.
Orange: Contributes acidity and fresh citrus aroma that brightens the fruit.
Nut meats: Add crunch and fat, contrasting with the soft fruit.