Why it works: Apple and grape match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,659 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓
Fruit Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Dice the apples, oranges, bananas, and grapes.
Keep the diced fruit in a cool place.
Serve
Just before serving, mix the fruit with mayonnaise.
Arrange the mixture on a lettuce leaf 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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Apple + grapetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,659 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Apple + bananatop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together435 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Banana + grapetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together496 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Orange + grapetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,771 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mayonnaise
- Adds richness and creamy moisture that binds the fruit together.
- Apples
- Provide crisp texture and tart flavour that contrasts the sweeter fruit.
- Bananas
- Add soft texture and natural sweetness to the salad.
The step that matters
Mixing the mayonnaise in just before serving. Apples and bananas brown once cut and exposed to air, and fruit held in dressing for long can release juice and turn watery. Adding mayonnaise at the last moment keeps the fruit fresher and the texture intact.
Swap the lettuce
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, orange, banana, grape):
- Carrotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits about as well
- Lettucethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, orange, banana, grape. 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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