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Salad

Waldorf Salad

A salad of diced apples, celery, and mayonnaise dressing with salt, paprika, and tarragon vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Waldorf Salad

Why it works: Celery and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 456 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Waldorf Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pare, core, and dice the apples.

  2. Add the diced apples to the celery.

Season and dress

  1. Sprinkle with salt and paprika.

  2. Pour in the tarragon vinegar and mix well.

  3. Stir in the mayonnaise dressing until combined.

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.

  1. Celery + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together456 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,547 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Apple + celerytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,155 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  4. Apple + tarragontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together73 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Apple + vinegartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,884 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Apples
Provide crisp texture and tart flavor that balances the rich dressing.
Celery
Adds crunch and a fresh, slightly savory bulk to the salad.
Mayonnaise dressing
Provides fat and creaminess that binds the salad and coats the pieces.
Tarragon vinegar
Adds acidity and a sharp aromatic note that brightens the dressing.

The step that matters

Stir in the mayonnaise dressing until combined. Mixing gently keeps the apples and celery intact while the dressing coats them evenly. Overworking can bruise the apples and turn the salad mushy, and apples left uncoated may brown once cut.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, tarragon, vinegar):

  1. Lemonfits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Cherryfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, tarragon, vinegar. 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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