Why it works: Celery and apple are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,155 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓
Apple and Celery Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chill the celery and apples thoroughly.
Make and serve
In a bowl, combine the celery and apples.
Sprinkle lightly with coarse sea salt and toss together.
Serve with French dressing or mayonnaise.
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.
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Celery + appletop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,155 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Celery
- Provides a crisp, crunchy texture as its water-filled cells stay firm when cold.
- Tart apples
- Add crunch and acidity that brighten the salad and balance the richness of the dressing.
- French dressing or mayonnaise
- Adds fat and moisture that coat the celery and apple and carry the flavour.
The step that matters
Chill the celery and apples thoroughly.. Cold keeps the cell walls of celery and apple firm, so the salad stays crisp. Warm produce softens and releases water, which makes the salad limp and watery.
“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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