Why it works: Mustard and celery 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 ↓
Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chicken
Boil the chickens in salted water until cooked, then let them cool completely.
Remove the meat from the bones and cut it into pieces about ¼ inch in size.
Chop the white part of the celery to the same size and mix it with the chicken.
Make and serve the salad
In a bowl, mash the egg yolks with the oil, then add the vinegar, mustard, cayenne, and salt. Mix the dressing thoroughly.
Do not pour the dressing over the salad until 30 minutes before serving to prevent the celery from wilting.
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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Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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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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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
- Chicken
- Forms the main body of the salad and provides its protein texture.
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify with the oil to create a thick, creamy dressing.
- Fresh sweet oil
- Adds richness and carries flavour, and with the yolks forms the emulsified base.
- French mustard
- Adds sharpness and helps stabilise the emulsion of the dressing.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil and yolks.
- Celery
- Adds crunch and freshness that contrast with the soft chicken and dressing.
The step that matters
Timing the dressing. Celery releases water and wilts once it is coated with acidic dressing and salt, so the dressing should only be added shortly before serving to keep the salad crisp.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, mustard, egg, vinegar, pepper):
- Tarragonfits better
- Dillfits better
- Capersfits about as well
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, mustard, egg, vinegar, pepper. 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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