Name: Estonian Cod Salad with Horseradish Sauce
Ingredients: 2 pounds cod fillets (cut into 2-inch pieces); Salt(according to taste); 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 1/4 cup prepared horseradish; 3/4 cup sour cream; 1/3 cup mayonnaise, preferably Hellmann's; Pinch of sugar; 1/4 cup very finely chopped onion; 2 medium-size Kirby cucumbers( peeled and cut into small dice); 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill; Freshly ground black pepper, to taste; 1 head Boston lettuce, leaves separated, rinsed, and patted dry

Why it works: Lemon and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 976 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Lemon + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cucumber + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together530 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together134 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together640 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Cod fillets: Forms the flaky main body of the salad once poached and broken into pieces.
Sour cream: Adds moisture and a tangy creaminess that coats the fish.
Mayonnaise: Contributes fat and richness, binding the sauce smoothly.
Horseradish: Provides sharp, pungent heat that gives the sauce its bite.
Kirby cucumbers: Add crisp texture and fresh moisture to the salad.
Fresh lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the fish and balances the rich sauce.

The step that matters

Simmer the fish gently. Keeping the water at a low simmer after boiling cooks the cod gently so it stays moist and flakes softly. Overcooking toughens the protein and dries the fish, so it should be removed as soon as it just begins to flake.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, horseradish, cream, sugar, cucumber, dill, pepper):

Mustardfits better
Beetrootfits better
Broccolifits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, horseradish, cream, sugar, cucumber, dill, pepper. 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
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Horseradish	not in our table	0

Estonian Cod Salad with Horseradish Sauce