Name: Salmon Burgers with Vegetable Slaw
Ingredients: 6 cups finely shredded mixed green and; red cabbage; 2 carrots, shredded; 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped; 3 green onions, both white and tender; green portions, chopped; 1 cup mayonnaise; 1/4 cup cider vinegar; 2 Tbs. sugar; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 tsp. whole-grain mustard; Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste; 1/2 cup pine nuts; 1 1/2 to 2 lb. salmon fillet, ground; 1 cup fine dried bread crumbs; 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped; 4 large shallots, chopped; 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; 6 onion rolls, split

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,081 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,431 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, pepper, onion, cider, vinegar, sugar, garlic):

Mustardfits better
Broccolifits better
Horseradishfits better
Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, pepper, onion, cider, vinegar, sugar, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Pine Nut	1 oz (28g)	191
Bread	1 slice (30g) white	79
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Cider	not in our table	0

Salmon Burgers with Vegetable Slaw