Why it works: Cucumber and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 481 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Potato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel and slice the cucumbers.
Soak the cucumbers in salt water for 30 minutes.
Dice the cold boiled potatoes.
Combine and dress
Drain the cucumbers and add them to the potatoes and chopped pimentos.
Mix with your choice of salad dressing.
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.
-
Cucumber + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold boiled potatoes
- Provide the main bulk and soft, starchy body of the salad.
- Cucumbers
- Add crisp texture and fresh moisture to the salad.
- Salad dressing
- Adds moisture, richness and tang that bind the salad together.
- Pimentos
- Add mild sweetness and colour to the salad.
The step that matters
Drain the cucumbers well after soaking. Salt draws water out of cucumbers, and any moisture left behind will thin the dressing and make the salad watery. Draining thoroughly keeps the dressing thick and the texture firm.
“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.
More potato salad recipes
You might also like
Chicken Salad623 recipes
Salad Dressing491 recipes
Tomato Salad179 recipes
Cold Slaw160 recipesThe 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.