Corn Salad

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. Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together4,169 recipes

   Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

2. Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together1,645 recipes

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

3. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

4. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together4,081 recipes

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

5. 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

Corn (in the method)

Provides the main bulk and sweet, tender texture of the salad.

Brown sugar

Adds sweetness and helps balance the sharpness of the vinegar.

Vinegar (in the method)

Adds acidity that preserves the vegetables and gives the salad its tang.

Cabbage

Adds crisp texture and body to the chopped vegetable mixture.

Mustard

Adds sharp, pungent flavor that complements the sweet and sour elements.

The step that matters

Swap the cabbage

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

1. Horseradishfits better
2. Lettucefits better
3. Capsicumfits better
4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, celery, mustard, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.