Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Potato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the salad base
In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, celery, hard boiled eggs, and onions.
Season the mixture with salt and pepper, then set aside.
Make the dressing
In a separate bowl, break the yolk of an egg and add oil drop by drop while stirring constantly until thick.
Add vinegar to the thickened dressing until it reaches the consistency of thick custard.
Ensure all ingredients for the dressing are perfectly cold before mixing.
Combine and garnish
Mix the dressing with the potato mixture.
Garnish with additional hard boiled eggs and celery tops. Lettuce can be used instead of celery if preferred.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,047 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Form the bulk of the salad and hold their shape when cut into pieces.
- Egg yolk
- Emulsifies the oil into the dressing, thickening it into a custard-like texture.
- Oil
- Forms the body of the dressing when whisked into the egg yolk.
- Hard boiled eggs
- Add firm texture and richness to the salad.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich dressing.
The step that matters
Adding the oil to the yolk. Oil must be added drop by drop while whisking constantly so the yolk can emulsify it. Adding it too fast breaks the emulsion, leaving a thin, oily dressing instead of a thick one.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, celery, egg, pepper, vinegar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, celery, egg, 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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