Name: Round the Table
Ingredients: a pinch of chervil; one shallot; vinegar; pepper; salt

Why it works: Chervil and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 266 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Round the Table

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dressing

Take equal parts of meat, cut in neat pieces, and of cold boiled potatoes, sliced.
Beat up together some olive oil and tarragon vinegar, in the proportion of two to one.
Add powdered pepper and salt to taste, one shallot, with a pinch of chervil and one of tarragon minced very fine.

Assemble and garnish

Lay the meat and potatoes in the mixture.
Ornament with some hard-boiled eggs and some gherkins.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

16Calories

0 gProtein

0 gFat

3 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Chervil	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Chevalley de Rivaz, Victor. 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.

Chervil + shallottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together266 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Chervil + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together867 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,898 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Shallot + vinegartop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,374 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Chervil + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together561 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes (in the method): Provide starchy bulk that holds its shape and absorbs the dressing.
Meat (in the method): Provides the main savoury body of the salad.
Olive oil (in the method): Adds fat that carries flavour and gives the dressing body.
Vinegar: Adds sharp acidity that balances the oil and cuts richness.
Shallot: Adds a sharp, savoury aroma to the dressing.