Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Potato Galad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare and slice the cold boiled potatoes.
Peel and slice the onion thinly.
Mix the potatoes and onion together on a salad dish.
Dress and serve
In a cup, stir together the salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil.
Dress the salad with the dressing and garnish with parsley leaves before serving.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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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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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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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 absorb the dressing.
- Onion
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour that balances the richness of the oil.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and cuts through the oil.
- Oil
- Carries flavour and gives the dressing a smooth, coating richness.
The step that matters
Dress the salad while the potatoes are still cold. Cold potatoes are firm and hold their shape when sliced and tossed, so they do not break apart. Dressing them while the dressing and potatoes are cold also lets the oil and vinegar coat the slices evenly rather than soaking unevenly into a mushy surface.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, pepper, vinegar, parsley):
- Carrotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, pepper, vinegar, parsley. 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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