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 ↓
Herring Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Dice one good sized apple and one dozen Holland herring (milchner).
Dice two large onions, one lemon, and two large dill pickles; add 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper.
Add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts and 1 1/2 pints cider vinegar.
Add one tablespoon sugar and 1/2 dozen whole pepper and allspice.
Combine and soak
Soak herring 24 hours, remove skin and bone, dice it and other ingredients; add milchner well chopped and sugar to the vinegar, mix, and combine all together.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | 1 medium (182g) | 95 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Allspice | 1 tsp ground (1.9g) | 5 |
| Dill | 5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried | 4 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
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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Lemon + dilltop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together976 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Dill + peppertop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,630 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Dill + allspicetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together52 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Herring (in the method)
- Provides the main protein and the salad's characteristic flavour.
- Cider vinegar
- Provides acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the herring.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar and pickles with sweetness.
- Dill pickles
- Add acidity, salt and crunch to the salad.
The step that matters
Soaking the herring for 24 hours. Soaking draws out excess salt from cured herring, so the fish tastes mild rather than overly salty once combined with the vinegar and other ingredients.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, onion, lemon, dill, pepper, allspice, vinegar):
- Limefits better
- Orangefits better
- Cherryfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, onion, lemon, dill, pepper, allspice, 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.
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