Why it works: Watercress and beetroot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 143 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Egg Mayonnaise
Ingredients
Directions
Layer the salad
Slice the potatoes, and quarter the eggs.
Arrange them in a dish, sprinkling pepper and salt in between.
Mix pieces of watercress with the eggs and tomatoes.
Pour over the mayonnaise.
Garnish with more watercress.
Soak and dress the potatoes
Boil potatoes that are firm and waxy when cooked.
Cut them in slices.
Let them soak in 1/2 gill of water.
Grate a small onion and mix it with these.
Add pepper, salt, vinegar, and oil to taste.
The quantity of oil should be about three times the amount of the vinegar used.
Eat with Allinson wholemeal bread.
Assemble the bowl
Cut the potatoes in small pieces.
Put these into a salad bowl.
Cut up the onions and olives, and add them to the potatoes.
Mix the vinegar, oil, tarragon vinegar, salt, and pepper well together.
Pour it into the salad bowl, and stir it well.
Garnish with beetroot and parsley.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Watercress | 1 cup (34g) | 4 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Beetroot | 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.
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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Watercress + beetroottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together143 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Watercress + potatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together170 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Potato + beetroottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together330 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Watercress + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together983 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the main body of the salad, and firm waxy potatoes hold their shape when sliced and tossed.
- Eggs
- Add richness and a soft, creamy texture contrasting with the potatoes.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the oil.
The step that matters
Use firm, waxy potatoes and dress them while cutting. Firm waxy potatoes keep their shape when sliced and tossed, while floury potatoes break down and turn mushy. Dressing with vinegar and oil at the right ratio, about three parts oil to one vinegar, keeps the salad balanced and not sour.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (watercress, vinegar, egg, beetroot, pepper):
- Horseradishfits better
- Lettucefits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against watercress, vinegar, egg, beetroot, pepper. 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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