Name: Shrimp Salad
Ingredients: 1 large head of lettuce; 2 dozen large shrimps (or 1 can of shrimps); 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 tablespoons vinegar; mayonnaise dressing

Why it works: Lettuce and olive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,580 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Shrimp Salad

Ingredients

1 large head of lettuce
2 dozen large shrimps (or 1 can of shrimps)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
mayonnaise dressing

Directions

Prepare

Shred the lettuce as finely as possible.
If using fresh shrimp, pick them; if using canned, rinse in cold water.
In a bowl, combine shrimp with olive oil and vinegar; shake to coat.

Assemble

Cover a flat dish with the shredded lettuce.
Pile the shrimp in the center and spread mayonnaise dressing on top.

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 + olivetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,580 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Shrimp + olivetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,966 recipes

Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
Lettuce + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,370 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Lettuce + shrimptop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together430 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Shrimp: Forms the main protein of the salad and carries the dressing flavor.
Lettuce: Provides the crisp, cool base that holds the shrimp.
Olive oil: Adds fat that carries flavor and coats the shrimp.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the shrimp and balances the richness.
Mayonnaise dressing: Adds creaminess and fat that moistens the salad.