Name: Salad of Lettuce with Fried Sole
Ingredients: 1 head of lettuce; 2 tablespoons oil; 1 tablespoon vinegar; ¼ teaspoon pepper; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 fried sole, cooled

Why it works: Lettuce and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,037 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Salad of Lettuce with Fried Sole

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Prepare the lettuce salad by mixing the lettuce with oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt.

Assemble and serve

Cut the cooled fried sole into 1-inch square pieces.
Add the sole pieces to the salad and mix well.
Serve immediately.

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.

Lettuce + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,037 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Lettuce + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,370 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Lettuce: Forms the bulk of the salad and provides crisp texture.
Oil: Carries flavor and coats the leaves, adding a smooth richness to the dressing.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the oil.
Fried sole: Provides the main protein and a contrast of crisp, savory fish against the greens.