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How We Cook in Tennessee

A salad of apples, celery, walnuts, and a sweet dressing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Jackson (Tenn.). First Baptist Church. The Silver Thimble Society · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 56 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 4,160 recipes mention both. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: walnut

Directions

Prepare the apples and celery

  1. Cut enough tender celery to make a cupful.

  2. Cut off the tops of six pretty red apples and scoop out the inside with a spoon; chop fine and mix it with the celery.

  3. Wrap both in a damp cloth and put them in the refrigerator to make the celery crisp and to prevent discoloration of the apples.

  4. Throw the shells of the apples into cold water.

Make the dressing and fill the apples

  1. Put the yolks of two eggs in a clean, cold soup-dish; beat them a little with a fork.

  2. Add a pinch of salt, not more than half a saltspoonful, and eight tablespoonfuls of olive oil, half a teaspoonful at a time.

  3. Stir carefully all the while until you have a thick, custard-like dressing.

  4. Add a tablespoonful of lemon juice and mix it with the apple and celery.

  5. Fill into apple shells.

  6. Stand each on a pretty little mat in the center of the plate and put them in the refrigerator until wanted for use.

Make the second dressing and serve

  1. Make a dressing of two-thirds cup of sugar, half teaspoon flour, half teaspoon mustard, a little pepper and salt, one egg, three tablespoons milk, three of vinegar, butter the size of a walnut; boil till thickens.

  2. When cool pour over the meat of two apples chopped fine, two stalks of celery cut fine and two cups of nut kernels.

  3. Serve with a little whipped cream on top.

  4. Decorate with celery leaves and English walnut kernels.

  5. If apples are very acidic the dressing may require a little more sugar.

By Jackson (Tenn.). First Baptist Church. The Silver Thimble Society. 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Mustard + celerytop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together4,160 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Celery + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together16,001 recipes

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

  3. Mustard + cabbagetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,645 recipes

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

  4. Cabbage + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together4,080 recipes

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

  5. Celery + cabbagetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,839 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

Eggs
Egg yolks emulsify with the oil and thicken the dressing into a custard-like texture.
Olive oil
Adds richness and, when whisked in slowly, forms a thick, smooth dressing.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar and apples.
Flour
Its starch thickens the cooked second dressing as it boils.
Apples
Provide crisp texture and fresh, tart flavour to the salad.
Nut kernels
Add crunch and a toasty, nutty flavour against the soft fruit and dressing.

The step that matters

Adding the oil to the egg yolks. Oil must be added slowly while stirring constantly so it emulsifies into the yolks. Adding it too fast can break the emulsion, leaving a thin, separated dressing instead of a thick one.

Flavor stand-ins for the cabbage

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

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  3. Potatobetter flavor fit
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, sugar, flour, mustard, milk, celery, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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