Name: Chicken Salad
Ingredients: 1 whole chicken, with giblets; 2 teaspoons flour; 1 cup boiling water; 1 cup cooked chicken, shredded; 1 tablespoon gravy; Salt, to taste; Pepper, to taste; 1 cup celery, cut into half-inch pieces; Dressing (see below)

Why it works: Pepper and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Chicken Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Place the chicken and giblets in a kettle, dredge with flour, and pour on boiling water.
Cover and cook slowly until the meat is tender and easily breaks apart with a fork.
Remove the chicken, and take 1 cup of meat, cutting it into half-inch pieces.
Mash the liver and stir it into the gravy.
Mix 1 tablespoon of gravy with the cup of chicken, adding salt and pepper.
Stir in the celery and cover; refrigerate until cold.
Before serving, pour over the salad the dressing.

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.

Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Chicken + celerytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,375 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,905 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,958 recipes

Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).