Name: Salmon Salad
Ingredients: 1 bunch of celery, white parts only; 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon pepper; 1 tablespoon dry mustard; 2 hard boiled eggs; 1 can salmon; 1 cup sour vinegar; celery tops for garnish; 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced for garnish

Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Salmon Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Chop the white parts of the celery finely.
In a bowl, combine the chopped celery, salt, pepper, dry mustard, and chopped hard boiled eggs.
Add the can of salmon and mix gently.
Pour the sour vinegar over the mixture and stir lightly.

Serve

Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with celery tops and sliced hard boiled eggs.

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.

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.

Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,169 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Celery: Adds crisp texture and a fresh, mild crunch to the salad.
Hard boiled eggs: Add body and richness, giving the salad a soft, creamy bulk.
Salmon: Provides the main protein and flaky texture of the salad.
Sour vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and sharpens the dressing.
Dry mustard: Contributes a sharp, pungent flavour that balances the richness.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, mustard, egg, salmon, vinegar):

Dillfits better
Tarragonfits better
Capersfits better
Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, mustard, egg, salmon, 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.