Why it works: Lettuce and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,356 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove skin and gristle from the boiled chicken and chop it finely.
Cut the lettuce into quarters and soak it in ice water to crisp.
Make the dressing
For the dressing, mix egg yolks, mustard, Cayenne pepper, and salt in a flat dish.
Gradually stir in sweet oil while mixing continuously.
Add a little vinegar and more oil, stirring well.
Assemble and serve
Combine half of the dressing with the chopped chicken and mix thoroughly.
Place the chicken mixture in the center of a flat dish.
Dry the lettuce and arrange it neatly around the chicken.
Drizzle the remaining dressing over the lettuce.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Lettuce + mustardtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,356 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lettuce + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,037 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Chicken + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,192 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify the oil into the dressing, giving it a thick, creamy body.
- Sweet oil
- Provides fat and richness, and forms the body of the emulsified dressing.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the rich oil and yolks.
- Mixed mustard
- Acts as an emulsifier and adds sharpness that supports the dressing's stability.
- Boiled chicken
- Supplies the protein and bulk of the salad, with its mild flavor carried by the dressing.
The step that matters
Adding the oil gradually to the yolks. Egg yolks emulsify oil only when it is added slowly while whisking. Adding it all at once makes the dressing separate into a greasy, runny mix instead of a thick, smooth one.
Swap the lettuce
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, egg, mustard, pepper, vinegar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Horseradishfits about as well
- Lettucethe original
- Shallotfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, egg, mustard, pepper, vinegar. 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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