Name: Picnic Salad
Ingredients: one quart of very finely chopped cabbage; two-thirds cup of sour cream; a tablespoonful of celery seed; two well-beaten eggs; salt; pepper; mustard; vinegar

Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Picnic Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Combine one quart of very finely chopped cabbage, two-thirds cup of sour cream, and two well-beaten eggs.
Season to taste with sugar, salt, pepper, and mustard.
If you have no celery to chop with your cabbage, add a tablespoonful of celery seed.
Add a little vinegar.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

218Calories

25 gProtein

6 gFat

15 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cabbage	1 cup shredded (89g)	22
Celery Seed	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 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.

By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

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.

Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,169 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,645 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,081 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cabbage + celerytop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,840 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Cabbage: Forms the bulk of the salad and provides its crisp, fresh texture.
Sour cream: Adds moisture and tangy richness that coats the shredded cabbage.
Eggs: Bind the dressing and add richness to the creamy base.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the creamy dressing.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, celery, egg, pepper, mustard, vinegar):

Horseradishfits better
Lettucefits better
Spinachfits better
Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, celery, egg, pepper, mustard, vinegar. 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.