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Basic Egg Salad and Egg Salad Plus

A chilled salad of chopped hard‑boiled eggs, mayonnaise, pickles, mustard, spices, and herbs.

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Why it works: Mustard and chive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 587 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Basic Egg Salad and Egg Salad Plus

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients.

  2. Chill well.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

700Calories
20 gProtein
18 gFat
111 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Chive1 tbsp (3g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

  1. Mustard + chivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together587 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Chive + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together359 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Hard boiled eggs
Provide the main body and texture of the salad.
Mayonnaise
Adds moisture and creaminess that binds the chopped eggs together.
Bread and butter pickles
Add sweetness, acidity and crunch to balance the rich eggs and mayonnaise.
Yellow mustard
Adds sharp, tangy flavour that cuts through the richness of the mayonnaise.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, bread, butter, mustard, pepper, chive):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, bread, butter, mustard, pepper, chive. 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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