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Waldorf Salad

A salad of walnuts, celery, apples, coconut, mayonnaise, served on lettuce or in shells.

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

Why it works: Walnut and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 491 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Waldorf Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the walnuts, celery, and apples into small pieces.

  2. Mix the chopped ingredients together in a bowl.

Dress and serve

  1. Sprinkle with shredded coconut.

  2. Add mayonnaise dressing and mix well.

  3. Serve in apple or tomato shells on lettuce leaves, or on lettuce leaves alone.

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. Walnut + lettucetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together491 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  2. Celery + lettucetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,033 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Walnut + coconuttop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together606 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  4. Walnut + celerytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together852 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  5. Coconut + lettucetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together54 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

English walnuts
Add crunch and a nutty flavor that contrasts with the soft fruit and celery.
Crisp celery
Adds crisp texture and fresh, slightly savory flavor.
Tart apples
Provide crisp texture and tartness that balances the rich dressing.
Mayonnaise dressing
Binds the salad and adds moisture and richness.

The step that matters

Add mayonnaise dressing and mix well. Apples browns and softens once cut, and the dressing should be stirred in evenly so every piece is coated and the salad stays moist rather than watery in spots.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (walnut, celery, coconut, lettuce):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against walnut, celery, coconut, lettuce. 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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