Name: Fingerling Potato Salad
Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients: 3 1/2 pounds fingerling potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 3/4"–1" pieces; 1 tablespoon kosher salt plus more for seasoning; 9 tablespoons (or more) extra-virgin olive oil, divided; 2 tablespoons brown mustard seeds; 3 medium leeks (white and palegreen parts only), halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into ¼" slices (about 5 cups); 1 tablespoon (or more) white wine vinegar; 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard; Freshly ground black pepper

Why it works: Potato and leek work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Fingerling Potato Salad

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

3 1/2 pounds fingerling potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 3/4"–1" pieces
1 tablespoon kosher salt plus more for seasoning
9 tablespoons (or more) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons brown mustard seeds
3 medium leeks (white and palegreen parts only), halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into ¼" slices (about 5 cups)
1 tablespoon (or more) white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

336Calories

6 gProtein

14 gFat

49 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Seed	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By epicurious. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Potato + leektop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Mustard + leektop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together21 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Potato + olivetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,458 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Potato + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,340 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Olive + mustardtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,950 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the leek

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, olive, mustard, white wine, pepper):

Capsicumfits better
Broccolifits better
Lettucefits better
Leekthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, olive, mustard, white wine, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.