Why it works: Lemon and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,467 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Veal Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the veal until very tender.
Chop the veal finely.
Stir in the salad dressing.
Transfer to a shallow dish.
Garnish with lemon slices and celery.
Add chopped cabbage or lettuce if desired.
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.
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.
-
Lemon + celerytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Celery + cabbagetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,840 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Lemon + cabbagetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together397 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Veal + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Veal + celerytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,336 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the cabbage
The recipe marks cabbage as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, lemon, celery):
- Carrotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, lemon, celery. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Cream of Celery Soup113 recipes
Red Cabbage65 recipes
Stewed Cabbage58 recipes