Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Turkey Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the white meat of the turkey into small pieces.
Blanch celery and cut into lengths, equal quantity to turkey.
Salt the turkey and celery slightly.
Dress and serve
When dinner is nearly ready, prepare a dressing: rub the yolks of three hard-boiled eggs into a powder with a teaspoonful of sugar, half as much salt, pepper, and mustard, then work into a paste with two tablespoonfuls of oil and six of vinegar.
Pour the dressing over the turkey and celery.
Toss the salad well with a fork.
Garnish with white of egg cut into rings.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Turkey (in the method)
- Forms the main body of the salad and provides its savoury, meaty bulk.
- Celery (in the method)
- Adds crisp, fresh texture and a mild, watery crunch to the salad.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Yolks become a powder that thickens the dressing into a smooth, creamy paste.
- Oil
- Emulsifies with the egg and vinegar to give the dressing a rich, silky body.
- Vinegar (in the method)
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil and yolk.
The step that matters
Working the dressing into a paste. Egg yolk must be finely powdered before the oil and vinegar are added slowly. This lets the yolk emulsify the oil into a smooth, stable dressing rather than a greasy, separated one.
“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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