Name: Fish Salad
Ingredients: 2 lb Halibut or cod fillet, cold boiled; 4 tbl Horseradish root, freshly; 4 tbl Prepared horseradish; 1 pt Sour cream; 1 tsp Salt; 1/8 tsp White pepper; 2 tbl Onion, finely chopped; 1 tsp White vinegar; 3 tbl Dill, fresh, finely chopped; 1 med Head lettuce; 2 x Eggs, hard-cooked, sliced; 3 x Tomatoes

Why it works: Horseradish and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 134 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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.

Horseradish + dilltop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together134 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Horseradish + lettucetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together79 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Dill + lettucetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together159 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Horseradish + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,784 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Onion + lettucetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,562 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

Halibut or cod fillet: Forms the main body of the salad and provides its flaky texture.
Sour cream: Adds moisture and a tangy richness that coats the fish.
Horseradish: Contributes sharp heat and pungent aroma that cuts through the creamy sauce.
Eggs: Add soft, mild richness and texture as a garnish.
Tomatoes: Add juiciness and fresh acidity to balance the rich sauce.

The step that matters

Squeeze the prepared horseradish dry. Excess liquid in horseradish would thin the sour-cream sauce and make it watery, so removing it keeps the sauce thick enough to cling to the fish.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (horseradish, cream, onion, vinegar, dill, lettuce, egg):

Capersfits better
Tarragonfits better
Parsleyfits better
White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against horseradish, cream, onion, vinegar, dill, lettuce, egg. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Halibut	100g cooked	140
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Horseradish	not in our table	0

Fish Salad

Fish Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Marinate and serve

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)