use Data::Dumper;

$a = "fruits";
$b = "birds";

$c = "p";
$d = "g";
$e = "c";

$array1{$a}{$c}= [ "peach" ];
$array1{$a}{$d}= [ "grapes" ];
$array1{$b}{$c}= [ "parrot" ];
$array1{$b}{$e}= [ "crow" ];

print Dumper %array1;
[download]

This is the way to do it as a hash. I doubt this is helpful though.


Update: Added missing square brackets. (I guess I should have tested it.)
Better yet use borisz's example below.