Why it works: Beetroot and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 678 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: wheat, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
In a large bowl, combine the root vegetables, celery, pickled gherkins, capers, pickled onions, white and red beetroot, truffles, endive, escarole, cabbage lettuce, white haricot beans, green French beans, anchovy, turkey wheat, pickled pepper, cauliflower, and potatoes.
Sprinkle the tarragon, chervil, and other herbs on top.
Dress and serve
In a separate bowl, mix the mustard, black pepper, salt, tarragon vinegar, and olive oil until well combined.
Drizzle the dressing evenly over the salad and toss gently to combine.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Beetroot + lettucetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together678 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Endive + lettucetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together284 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Beetroot + endivetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together132 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Capers + beetroottop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together231 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Capers + lettucetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together372 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Root vegetables
- Provide the bulk and firm, earthy texture of the salad.
- Olive oil
- Carries fat-soluble flavour and gives the dressing a smooth, rounded body.
- Tarragon vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the oil.
- Bordin mustard
- Helps emulsify the dressing and adds a sharp, pungent note.
- Anchovy
- Contributes concentrated savoury, salty depth to the salad.
- Potatoes
- Add starchy body and soak up some of the dressing.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, capers, beetroot, truffle, endive, cabbage, lettuce):
- Mustardbetter flavor fit
- Turnipbetter flavor fit
- Chivebetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against celery, capers, beetroot, truffle, endive, cabbage, lettuce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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