Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Potato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the cold boiled potatoes, celery, hard boiled eggs, and onions in a large bowl, then season with salt and pepper.
Add oil mayonnaise and mix well.
Garnish with additional hard boiled eggs and bleached celery tops.
Substitute lettuce for celery if preferred.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,047 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 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
- Potatoes
- Form the bulk of the salad and give it a soft, hearty body.
- Mayonnaise
- Provides fat and moisture that bind the salad and carry its flavour.
- Hard boiled eggs
- Add a soft, creamy texture and richness to the salad.
- Celery
- Adds a crisp texture that contrasts with the soft potatoes.
- Onions
- Add sharp, pungent flavour that cuts through the richness of the mayonnaise.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, celery, egg, pepper):
- Carrotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, celery, egg, pepper. 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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