Why it works: Tarragon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,563 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Potato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Slice the cold boiled potatoes into ¼ inch thick slices.
Place the potato slices in a salad bowl.
Dress and chill
Add the vinegar, salad oil, minced parsley, salt, and pepper.
Stir well to thoroughly mix all ingredients.
Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours before serving.
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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Tarragon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,563 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Tarragon + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,399 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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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 the dressing between their slices.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the oil.
- Salad oil
- Adds fat and moisture, carrying flavour and coating the potato slices.
The step that matters
Stir well to thoroughly mix all ingredients. Potatoes are fragile and can break, so stir gently but enough to coat every slice. Dressing that is not evenly distributed leaves some slices bland and others oily or sharp.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tarragon, parsley, pepper):
- Shallotfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Lettucefits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tarragon, parsley, 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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