Name: Wheat Berry Salad Recipe
Yield: 6-8 as side dish
Ingredients: 1/2 cup wheat berries, soaked overnight; 1 large ripe mango (can be replaced with oranges or persimmon), cut into cubes; 3-4 celery stalks, with the fibery outer parts peeled and diced; 10 dates, pitted and finely chopped (can be replaced by another dried fruit); A handful of nuts, such as roasted almonds, candied pecans or walnuts; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar; 1 sprig of thyme, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon of a fine sweet and interesting marmalade—I use organic Adriatic fig spread (sold at Whole Foods)

Why it works: Wheat and olive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 937 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓

The recipe

6-8 as side dish

Ingredients

Contains: wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

1/2 cup wheat berries, soaked overnight
1 large ripe mango (can be replaced with oranges or persimmon), cut into cubes
3-4 celery stalks, with the fibery outer parts peeled and diced
10 dates, pitted and finely chopped (can be replaced by another dried fruit)
A handful of nuts, such as roasted almonds, candied pecans or walnuts
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 sprig of thyme, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of a fine sweet and interesting marmalade—I use organic Adriatic fig spread (sold at Whole Foods)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By chow. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Wheat + olivetop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together937 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together3,188 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Olive + thymetop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together4,641 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Olive + vinegartop 4% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together10,843 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Mango + olivetop 5% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together414 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the dates

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wheat, mango, celery, nuts, olive, vinegar, thyme):

Limebetter flavor fit
Lemonbetter flavor fit
Cherrybetter flavor fit
Datesthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against wheat, mango, celery, nuts, olive, vinegar, thyme. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

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