Traditional Potato Salad

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.

1. Mustard + potatotop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together1,340 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

2. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together14,067 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

3. Sugar + evaporated milktop 11% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together804 recipes

   Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

4. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

5. Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together5,066 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour, vinegar, mustard, butter, evaporated milk):

1. Shallotfits better
2. Chivefits better
3. Horseradishfits better
4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour, vinegar, mustard, butter, evaporated milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.