Name: Italian Salad No. 2
Ingredients: one tablespoonful of capers; a pound of roast veal; a pound of boiled potatoes into small cubes

Why it works: Capers and potato work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 224 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Italian Salad No. 2

Ingredients

one tablespoonful of capers
a pound of roast veal
a pound of boiled potatoes into small cubes

Directions

Prepare

Cut half a pound of roast veal and half a pound of boiled potatoes into small cubes.
Add half a pound each of chopped beets and gherkins, and one tablespoonful of capers.
Mix well and season.

Assemble and serve

Put in a bowl lined with crisp lettuce leaves.
Pour mayonnaise over.
Garnish with chopped olives, thin slices of smoked sausage, and slices of lemon.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

163Calories

4 gProtein

0 gFat

37 gCarbs

Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 2 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Capers	1 tbsp (9g) drained	2
Veal	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 Olive M. Hulse. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Capers + potatotop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together224 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Capers + vealtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together198 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
Veal + potatotop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together343 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Roast veal: Provides the main protein and substance of the salad.
Boiled potatoes: Add bulk and a soft, starchy texture that balances the meats.
Mayonnaise (in the method): Adds fat and creaminess that binds the diced ingredients together.
Capers: Add a sharp, briny acidity that cuts through the richness of the mayonnaise.