Skip to main content
Soup

Latvian Summer Salad

A fresh salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, dill, and sour cream, seasoned with salt and white pepper.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Cucumber and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 530 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Latvian Summer Salad

Time10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Quarter the tomatoes and lightly salt to bring out the flavor.

  2. Cut the cucumbers in half, remove the seeds, then slice into 1/4 inch wide pieces (crescent moon shaped).

Dress and serve

  1. Add sour cream.

  2. Add green onions or chives to taste.

  3. Add dill to taste.

  4. Add salt to taste.

  5. Add white pepper to taste.

  6. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.

  7. Serve; sometimes a tiny bit more salt brings out the flavors.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

193Calories
21 gProtein
1 gFat
27 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Dill5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried4
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. Cucumber + dilltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together530 recipes

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

  2. Tomato + cucumbertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,405 recipes

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

  3. Tomato + dilltop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together511 recipes

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

  4. Cucumber + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,050 recipes

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

  5. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 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

Tomatoes
Provide the juicy base of the salad, and salting draws out their flavorful juices.
Cucumbers
Add crisp texture and cool, fresh moisture to the salad.
Sour cream
Adds richness and a tangy creaminess that binds the vegetables into a dressing.
Green onions or chives
Contribute a sharp, mild onion aroma and fresh bite.
Dill
Adds a bright, herbal aroma that complements the sour cream and cucumbers.

The step that matters

Salting the tomatoes. Salt draws water out of the tomatoes through osmosis and concentrates their flavor. Using too much, or salting too early, can make the salad watery or overly salty, so season gradually and taste as you go.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, cucumber, onion, dill, cream):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, cucumber, onion, dill, cream. 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.

You might also like

Tomato BisqueTomato Bisque11 recipesIndian Spiced Potato Soup with Tofu and SpinachIndian Spiced Potato Soup with Tofu and Spinach448 recipesClear Carrot and Bottle Gourd SoupClear Carrot and Bottle Gourd Soup65 recipesMock Bisque SoupMock Bisque Soup51 recipes