Name: Chicken Salad
Ingredients: 2 four-pound spring chickens; 2 slices of bacon; ¼ pound butter; salt to taste; water as needed; ½ cup chicken gravy; 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped; 2½ cups diced celery

Why it works: Chicken and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,375 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Chicken Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Roast the chickens with bacon and butter, adding salt and water.
Once warm, cut the chickens into small pieces.
Mix in the chicken gravy, chopped eggs, and diced celery.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Chicken + celerytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,375 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,902 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter + celerytop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,049 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Chicken + eggtop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,991 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

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

What each ingredient does

Spring chickens: Provide the cooked meat that forms the bulk and texture of the salad.
Bacon: Adds smoky, savory fat that flavors the chicken as it roasts.
Butter: Adds fat that keeps the roasting chicken moist and promotes gentle browning.
Chicken gravy: Adds moisture and savory meaty flavor that binds the salad together.
Hard boiled eggs: Add creamy richness and a soft texture that complements the chicken.
Celery: Contributes crisp texture and a fresh, slightly grassy crunch.